Patrice Evra explains his Arsenal v Liverpool FC prediction
Patrice Evra looks ahead to Arsenal's home clash with Liverpool FC in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon
Patrice Evra (Photo: China Images / Imagine China Limited / depositphotos.com)
Patrice Evra believes that Arsenal can lay down the foundations for a genuine Premier League title challenge by claiming a 3-2 victory over Liverpool FC on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners have dropped down into second place in the Premier League table after Manchester City were 4-0 winners over Southampton at The Etihad on Saturday.
However, Arsenal are preparing to welcome Liverpool FC to The Emirates on Sunday knowing that a win would move them back to being one point clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Mikel Arteta’s side have earned plenty of praise for the way they have started the new season and they have won all but one of their eight Premier League games heading into their clash with Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Liverpool FC, meanwhile, have struggled to find consistent form this term and currently find themselves 10th in the table, having only managed to take 10 points from their opening seven games and having dropped points in all but two of their top-flight outings so far.
Former Manchester United star Evra reckons Arsenal can snatch a narrow victory over the Merseyside outfit on Sunday and he believes that could signal the start of a real title challenge from the Gunners this season.
Writing in his column for Metro, Evra predicted a 3-2 win to Arsenal and said: “I’m really surprised with Arsenal and the way they played against Tottenham. They were on fire and they deserved to win the game. Even if Tottenham had some great chances.
“It’s a big game for both sides, I can see Arsenal winning and if they do, they will believe that they can fight for the title.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal boss Arteta believes that Sunday’s game is the perfect chance for his players to prove that they are ready to compete for the title this season.
Liverpool FC beat Arsenal twice at The Emirates last term – in both the Premier League and the League Cup semi-finals – and the Gunners have only won one of their last 14 league games against the Merseysiders.
Mikel Arteta (Photo: Marco Iacobucci / depositphotos.com)
“Again, it’s another really exciting game to play against one of the toughest opponents in this league,” Arteta told his pre-match news conference. “It’s going to be a really demanding match and it’s going to require us to be at our best again,
“Every game is the same. Obviously, it’s a big match. It’s a fixture that everybody’s looking for, against an opponent that has shown in the last five or six years the level that they have. And we have to show those opponents again that we have reached the level and we are ready to compete against them.”
This is Arsenal’s third-best start to a Premier League season, with the Gunners having twice had 22 points at this stage – when they finished second in 2005 and third in 2008.
Liverpool FC boss Klopp feels that it’s clear that Arsenal are moving in the right direction under Arteta.
“I’m pretty sure that Arsenal fans are pretty happy with the situation they are in now,” Klopp told his own pre-match news conference. “They don’t expect to win the title immediately – I don’t know Arsenal fans, too many at least. Maybe, but I’m not too much on the Arsenal subject, so I cannot really compare that.
Jurgen Klopp (Photo: New Balance)
“I said now everything about the team I know and could talk about the teams they had in the last few years. Arsenal is a big club, no doubt about that, and we had big games against them, especially home games [with] quite a lot of goals scored at both ends, these kind of things – 5-5 in the cup competition with young teams.
“So it’s a great club [that] stood under Arsene [Wenger] for a specific kind of football, then a few changes but then pretty quickly they found their way back – you can see this again.”