Arsenal manager Unai Emery has surprisingly admitted he never likes playing against a side as good as Liverpool.
Last season, his team was on the end of a 5-1 pummelling at Anfield – in which the Reds could have genuinely racked up double figures – such was the ease in which we cut through the Gunners defence.
There was a 1-1 draw played out at the Emirates, but Liverpool were robbed of a win by poor refereeing decisions.
“For us, we don’t ever want to play against Liverpool – but it’s really a challenge, a good test,” he said, reported in the Echo.
“Really our target is to reduce the distance (between us) and Manchester City and Liverpool last season, and when we go to play against them it’s a big moment to show how (much stronger) we can be.”
Emery does have history of success against Jurgen Klopp, of course.
In 2016, Sevilla downed us to win the Europa League – and in a Champions League game in 2017 – they came back to draw 3-3 after being 3-0 down.
But Liverpool are a far better outfit now than before. In fact, we’re one of the very best teams on the planet – and are two wins from two games so far.
A week’s break will do us plenty of good and will hopefully allow Klopp to deploy his strongest XI – with the likes of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson returning to the lineup.