Why a win at Anfield would prove Arsenal are built to retain the title
Arsenal have not won at Anfield since 2012, and that unwanted record is about to face its sternest test yet. Mikel Arteta's side travel to Liverpool this weekend in a fixture that could go a long way towards shaping the title race, with Manchester City already applying pressure on the defending champions.
Arsenal have made a consistent start to the season and head into the game as the side expected to win it, but history at this particular ground does them no favours. A victory would not just be three points, it would be a statement of intent in a title defence that has so far been built on stability rather than spectacle.
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A different Liverpool to the one City faced
City recently beat Liverpool, but that result came after the Reds were reduced to ten men before City found their goal, a context that will not apply when Arsenal arrive at Anfield. Liverpool's big money signings have started to deliver in recent weeks, and as JustArsenal note, that improvement makes them a more dangerous opponent than the one City were able to overcome.
That shifts the scale of the challenge facing Arteta's players. Anfield has historically been one of the hardest grounds in the country to get a result at, and Arsenal's own record there only adds to the size of the task. There will be no element of surprise working in Arsenal's favour this time, just a Liverpool side growing in confidence and a crowd that will expect their team to respond.
What a result would mean for the title race
Arsenal go into the match as favourites, and the gap in stability between the two sides this season has been notable. A draw would not derail the title defence, but it would represent a missed opportunity against a direct rival, while defeat would be a more damaging outcome, potentially denting confidence at a stage of the season when momentum matters most.
The consistency Arsenal have shown so far is precisely what has kept them in control of the title race, and matches like this are where that consistency gets examined most closely. Beating Liverpool at Anfield, somewhere Arsenal have so regularly fallen short, would send a clear signal that this squad has the nerve and quality to go the distance again.
With City breathing down their necks, there is little room for slip ups. The weekend trip to Merseyside now looks like one of the defining fixtures of Arsenal's season, a chance to end a long standing hoodoo and reinforce the belief that the title is going to stay in north London.
