Arsene Wenger wants Arsenal to avenge Liverpool thrashing at Anfield
Thursday 21 December 2017 13:34, UK
Arsene Wenger has urged his players to right the wrongs of previous defeats against Liverpool, as Arsenal look to avenge the 4-0 thrashing at Anfield in August.
Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Daniel Sturridge were all on the scoresheet when the sides met earlier in the season.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech recently described the loss as "one of the worst experiences" of his career and Wenger says the defeat still hurts and wants his team to turn the tables when Liverpool visit the Emirates Stadium on Friday, live on Sky Sports.
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"When you have such a long career as I have, you have some defeats unfortunately that hurt you for the rest of your life," he said.
"I believe what is interesting in football is you always have a time to make up for it. When you can put things right, do it.
"So let's focus on what is in front of us and turn up on Friday night with a completely different performance.
"The motivation is there. This squad has a good mentality and it is about us, to make sure we are on top of our game. We must play with pace and a determined attitude."
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was a surprise inclusion in the Arsenal team for the Anfield defeat as reports linking him with a switch to Liverpool increased, before eventually completing the move on Deadline Day.
The England international was criticised for his performance in the heavy defeat but Wenger refused to blame the loss on the former Arsenal man.
"It would be not fair to put the defeat at Liverpool, where the whole team had a bad performance, on one player," he said when asked if he regretted selecting Oxlade-Chamberlain.
"After that, on the other side, you analyse 'did you make mistakes or not?' You cannot go home and say everything was perfect when you lose like we did.
"I rate Alex highly and he knows that. After that, you want all the players to be respected who have played for us."
Wenger is likely to welcome defender Shkodran Mustafi back into his side on Friday night following the Germany international's recovery from a thigh problem but he will be without both Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey as the pair are struggling with hamstring injuries.
