Andoni Iraola will be hoping to beat another of his close friends today as his Liverpool side takes on Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, with the Reds having the chance to go within three points of the Premier League champions

Andoni Iraola will be putting his friendship with Mikel Arteta to one side as he looks to continue Liverpool’s progress this season.

The Reds host defending Premier League champion Arsenal at Anfield today, and will be looking to narrow the gap to the Gunners to three points in what would be the biggest sign of the club’s turnaround from last season’s disappointment.

Iraola has led his side to five straight wins in all competitions after suffering his first defeat in charge against Manchester City, and still has it competing for four trophies as he prepares to come face-to-face with another of his closest friends.

Having claimed bragging rights over Inigo Perez and Xabi Alonso over the last week or so, Iraola will hope to sentence another of his friends to a defeat today in Arteta. The pair grew up together in the Basque Country, Spain, and played alongside each other for the same youth team, Antigouko, in the San Sebastian area.

“As with Xabi Alonso on Wednesday, Mikel Arteta is someone l have known for many years and I could not have more respect for his achievements as a player and a manager,” Iraola wrote in his programme notes ahead of today’s game.

“It will be good to see him again but I know that he, like myself, will be focused only on getting the best result he possibly can for his team.

“That’s the thing about knowing each other well. We both recognise how important competing and winning is to one another. We have known this since we were kids and I doubt this will ever change.”

Liverpool’s recent form has seen talk of a possible title challenge growing, and no doubt a victory today would only strengthen its case. Iraola has been keen to play down any such chat, with the Reds boss not wanting to look too far ahead at this early stage.

“For us, it is all about keeping on building, whether this is in terms of results, our understanding as a team or confidence,” he said.

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“It is clear that we have made progress in recent weeks and this is the reason why we are now in a decent position in the Premier League – although I would be the first to say we want it to be better still – and have been able to push on in the Carabao Cup and the Champions League.

“We can allow ourselves some satisfaction about this but not too much. All that this period has done is show us what is possible and what we can achieve when we are together and when everyone is pulling in the same direction.

“This is not a situation that we can take for granted, the opposite is actually true – it is one that we have to keep on working for with everything we have. This will definitely be the case today. If we want another good result, we will have to go out there and earn it.”