After dropping eight Premier League points in the final week of 2023 and slipping from first to fourth, Arsenal have vowed to be better this year.
The Gunners are going all-out to kick off the year with a bang when they host Liverpool in Sunday’s blockbuster FA Cup Third Round clash at the the Emirates Stadium at 6.30pm.
It was coach Jurgen Klopp’s Reds who started the Gunners’ end-of-year dip when they played to a 1-1 draw at Anfield two days before Christmas.
With defeats to West Ham (2-0) and Fulham (2-1) after that clash, Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice says ahead of Sunday’s clash: “It’s not ideal when you want to be a top team, are striving to be a top team and want to be top players. We need to demand more from ourselves, push each other more when times are tough.
“Times like now are times when we stick together. It’s been a great year for Arsenal all round and we go into the new year with positivity. We play Liverpool and try to bounce back now.”
Liverpool are high on confidence after beating Burnley (2-0) and Newcastle (4-2) in their games since that Gunners draw.
Midfielder Curtis Jones, who is rumoured to be an Arsenal fan, stole the show against Newcastle, with Klopp saying of the 22-year-old: “We all know how good a player Curtis is, he is technically incredibly skilled, but he finds more and more direction in his dribbling, he gets better out of situations and his pressing and counter-pressing is [tops]... He keeps every player in the game.”
On Sunday only one of the two giants will march to the fourth round: will it be the Premier League log leaders, or will it be the Gunners who have a point to prove?