Mikel Arteta has welcomed talk of Arsenal finishing in the top four as the Gunners go to Liverpool on Saturday on an eight-match unbeaten run – the longest of any side in the Premier League.
Victory at Anfield would see Arsenal leapfrog Liverpool and move back into the Champions League places for the first time since October last year.
Arsenal boast the top flight’s youngest team and youngest manager, but Arteta is not interested in dampening expectations.
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‘For me, this is positive. It means there is excitement and they want to push us,’ Arteta said.
‘This club is about being the best, not about being fourth.
‘So that mentality and drive is because of our history. That history has to be present all the time, trying to achieve the biggest targets.
‘If not, you don’t have the mentality to play for this club. Whether we can achieve it or not, we will see. But the level of expectation has to be the highest.’
Arsenal have not won a league game at Anfield since 2012 and Jurgen Klopp’s side represent an acid test for Arteta’s improving team.
It was around this time last season that the Gunners’ season collapsed with a run of one win and seven defeats in 10 games.
‘Things were different,’ Arteta said. ‘But what we want is that positive mindset all the time.’
Liverpool counterpart Klopp has demanded more aggression from his players as they aim to bounce back after the defeat by West Ham a fortnight ago.
With the table so tight, Klopp knows Liverpool do not have any margin for error.
‘A defeat is important information, but in the moment you lose there is no “good defeat”,’ said Klopp.
‘The goal (at West Ham) I hated most was the counter-attacking goal because we have to defend much better.
‘The other two goals were set-pieces and the second set-piece was extremely well taken and extremely well executed, but the first is a foul and the second we have to defend it better.
‘We can show more. There are things we can do better. We were really in charge of the (West Ham) game but they had better moments against us.‘ (AF)
