EPL

Arteta issues Reds alert to Gunners ahead of Anfield trip

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Mikel Arteta will warn his Arsenal players to prepare for the very best of Liverpool on Monday night when they take on the Premier League champions at Anfield.

While the Gunners have not won at Liverpool since 2012, they have beaten the Reds in their previous two meetings.

Alexandre Lacazette and Reiss Nelson pounced on rare mistakes to earn a 2-1 league win in July before a penalty shoot-out victory secured Community Shield success at the expense of Jurgen Klopp’s side.

The two sides will now meet twice in four days with their Carabao Cup fourth-round clash coming on Thursday night.

Arteta has told his side they must prepare for the hosts to be at their best if Arsenal are to register a rare win on Merseyside.

‘Never give up, that is crucial against them,’ Arteta replied when asked about the challenge of beating Liverpool.

‘And you have to expect them to be at their best. If you are always expecting that then the level of attention is higher, the focus is higher and then you are more determined in every ball. Against them that is key.

‘I don’t see any complacency (in Liverpool’s players). They go to any ground, even when they are 2-0 up, 3-0 up, 4-0 up, and they still go in the same way.

‘This is an incredible credit to the coaching team, the culture they have created and the spirit of that team. You can see that in the 24 or 26 players they have in the squad.

‘There is not one player that is not very interested or just plays for moments in the game. They just go for it, every single minute of every game.

‘Throughout the season to do that for 10 months, that’s a massive compliment I think.’

Arteta is likely to recall summer signings Gabriel Magalhaes and Willian at Anfield, having made seven changes for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win at Leicester.

It remains to be seen if further reinforcements will be added to the Arsenal squad before the transfer window closes on October 5.

The club have been keen to add an extra central midfielder and have been heavily linked with Thomas Partey of Atletico Madrid and Lyon’s Houssem Aouar.

While Partey has a release clause and could yet make the move if Lucas Torreira goes the other way in a separate deal, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has poured cold water on reports an agreement with Aouar was close to completion.

‘At Lyon there will be very few departures: for Houssem, Arsenal is much too far from his value: we count on him to make a big game in Lorient and lead OL in Champions League next year,’ he wrote on Twitter.