Wallowing at local level, Liverpool will face a tough test against Arsenal this Sunday, knowing that a defeat will take them 14 points from the leaders in the tenth stage of the English Premier League competition.
Liverpool are pleased with two wins in seven league matches this season and are in ninth place, 11 points behind leaders Arsenal.
Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk has urged his side to deal with the pressure of a potentially decisive period in a season that will be suspended for a month due to the World Cup.
After a 3-3 draw at home to Brighton in the previous round, Liverpool bounced back from yet another league setback with a 2-0 win at home against Rangers in the Champions League group stage, claiming a second consecutive win in continental competition after a resounding fall 4-1 in the opening In Italy against Napoli.
He arrives at Arsenal in London on Sunday before heading to Glasgow for the second leg against Rangers, with Manchester City facing Manchester City next weekend in the Premier League.
“We are looking forward to this match,” Van Dijk said. They (Arsenal) are going through a great period, but if you look at our results in the league, I don’t think he would recommend us to win there.”
“But we know what we can do, we know what to expect. They are in great shape and full of confidence, and it’s a big match.”
For their part, the ambitious Arsenal delivered a league title for the first time since 2004 under legendary manager Arsène Wenger in one of his best starts with seven wins to one loss to Manchester United.
Spanish coach Mikel Arteta’s side still have the full mark, continental, after winning two out of two matches in the Europa League, the “Europa League”, after a 3-0 win on Thursday with the reserves over their guest, Bodu Glimt, from Norway, via a few days after he won a 3–1 league north London derby against neighbor and rival Tottenham Hotspur.
Casemiro at last
Dutch midfielder Erik Ten Hag may finally give Brazilian midfielder Casemiro his first league start with United in the Dutchman’s bid to find the right combination after he felt City’s defeat was a ‘reality test’ against Everton on Sunday.
The humiliating defeat followed a run of four consecutive league wins for United, including two victories over Arsenal and Liverpool.
Ten Hag believes the agonizing defeat should encourage his players to give it their all on Sunday’s trip to Liverpool to face Everton after their narrow 3-2 victory in the Cypriot capital over Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League on Thursday. but he faces a dilemma: the choice of the starting line-up, which must be decided first.
Since signing Real Madrid’s Casemiro this summer for £60m, Ten Hag has barely used the Brazilian, relying on Scotsman Scott McTominay to deliver an outstanding performance, especially on a string of back-to-back wins.
Casemiro has made four substitutions in the league and made two first three appearances in Europe, but the derby’s humiliation may be the motivation to rely mostly on a player crowned five times in the Champions League.
