LIVERPOOL vs ARSENAL: Mikel Arteta is looking to fire the Premier League champions to their first top-flight win at Anfield since September 2012

Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal are finally ready to conquer the Anfield bear pit. Liverpool are unbeaten in their past 13 Premier League home matches against the Gunners and the Spaniard actually started in midfield the last time his side silenced the infamous raucous atmosphere on Merseyside back in 2012.

Now he's keen to utilise his experience of the past to finally inspire victory as manager. In November 2021, he boldly dragged a set of speakers next to Arsenal's training pitch to boom out boisterous renditions of You'll Never Walk Alone.

The unique tactic failed to work as a 4-0 thumping followed. Arteta said on Friday: "That was many years ago, eh?"

When asked whether he needs to remove the emotion from the landmark fixture - a touchline bust-up with Jurgen Klopp ignited the home crowd in 2021 before Granit Xhaka's heated clash with Trent Alexander-Arnold helped inspire Liverpool's fightback from 2-0 down to salvage a draw in April 2023 - the Spaniard confessed: "Yeah, we believe that this had a bad effect on the team. So yes, whatever is good for the team, we will try to do that as much as possible.”

If there is one thing that has the ability to irk the home support, it's Arteta's conduct on the sideline. He received his second caution of the season against Everton for persistently leaving his technical area.

Rightly or wrongly, he's harvested a reputation for being a nuisance for fourth-officials, though he isn't fazed by criticism and will not shy away from kicking every ball for his team.

When asked how he feels about such scrutiny, he replied: “I don’t know. Fair or unfair, there are opinions, and the reality is that last year I wasn't suspended for a single match. I will try to do my best, I think the rules are becoming harder and harder. It's something that I don't do consciously, otherwise I would not do it.

"I'm just trying to help my team, try to help the players as much as possible to win the match, that's the only objective and the perception, yeah, it will depend on which parts you carry in your heart probably."

Before last season's cagey affair - settled by Dominic Szoboszlai's masterful late free-kick - a message was emblazoned across a banner positioned towards the front of the Kop. The taunt read: "Always the bridesmaids, never the bride."

Now Arsenal return as defending champions with a point to prove following Tuesday's stinging fourth-round Carabao Cup defeat at League Two minnows Fleetwood Town. In Arteta's mind, the mission has not changed.

He continued: "After midweek, the thing that I want at Anfield is winning as well. It doesn't take anything different to that. You have to swallow some pain that's different, but objectively it remains the same.

"But when you go those stadiums, you don't win very often. That's the reality. Like the other teams, they don't win at the end of the day very often. You have to do something special, and we're going to have to be at a really high level to win and I'm confident that we will be. We've been there, so close to winning now a few times and we need to make the next step, which is winning."

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