LONDON COLNEY, England — Mikel Arteta has said Arsenal have a “point to prove” against champions Liverpool as they aim to last the pace in the Premier League title race.
Arsenal sit six points clear at the table in pursuit of their first league success since 2004 having finished runners-up to Liverpool last term, their third consecutive second-place finish.
Liverpool beat Arsenal 1-0 at Anfield in August in an early setback but Arne Slot’s side arrive for Thursday’s reverse fixture 14 adrift of their opponents after a turbulent campaign despite spending almost £450 million ($607.04m) in the summer market.
“It’s a massive game against obviously the champions of the last Premier League and we have a point to prove,” Arteta said.
“We are at the top of the table, we play at home against a really, really good opponent and we want to maintain our position. And in order to do that, we’re going to have to be excellent throughout the game to win the game, and that’s the point we have to prove.
“We had it a few days ago against Bournemouth after a great win against [Aston] Villa and it’s going to continue like that.
“We know that because once we are in the position that we are in we want to maintain and extend the league that we have and in order to do that our level of determination and desire has to be with our mindset.”
Arteta revealed Kai Havertz trained on Wednesday and is edging closer to a return following knee surgery but Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera remain absent.
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