by When Liverpool visited the Emirates in October 2022, Arsenal needed to prove a point. The home side had won seven of their first eight games but, apart from the successful Derby negotiation with Spurs, all those victories lived up to expectations. They needed a real turning point to emphasize what everyone felt: that this was a side capable of taking the next step and mounting a real challenge at the top. It was duly delivered during a juicy, stylish five-goal thriller in which Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli ran riot.
How could Arsenal make a similar statement now. Liverpool return to north London on Sunday and while the FA Cup may not be at the top of Arteta’s priorities it offers a chance to breathe life into what has been a terrible season. It’s also an opportunity to land a blow before, in a month’s time, this meeting of title contenders is restored in the context of the Premier League.
Related: Arteta claims Arsenal fans will make the Emirates more hostile to the opposition
Cup football offers a palate cleanser: a small scope for fresher thinking and, perhaps, the shedding of some mental shackles in front of a more cautious home crowd. After three victories out of five, anything that might inspire renewed faith will be eagerly appreciated.
There is a sense that opponents have changed their approach against Arsenal in recent months. For all those who are on the edge of their leading mates, the idea that going after them can reveal a soft bottom is out of fashion. Instead teams were more content to stay behind the ball and ask new questions: can you break us down and, if not, can you avoid being exposed to a punch sucker?
They had no answer on either count in lackluster displays against Fulham and, in a game they dominated without offering any breakthrough, West Ham.
“After what we did last season and the start of this season, teams are analyzing us,” says Martin Ødegaard. “They’re trying to stop us playing to our strengths. Are they falling deeper? Yes, I think so. In my first season and even at the beginning of last season, the games we played were more open because teams wanted to come here, attack us and push hard.”
It is the duty of Ødegaard and his creative colleagues to be green selectors. Arsenal have generally looked more settled since the arrival of Declan Rice but they haven’t been the buccaneering wonder of this time last year. At times, as in the final wins at Brentford and Luton, they overcame mediocre performances through quality and sheer force of persistence. On other occasions, such as at Craven Cottage, there was clearly too much reliance on a tired Saka and an out-of-form Martinelli. Perhaps they need to look for bolder options when their explosive wide man is being ruled out.
“We just have to find different spaces and play well enough to deal with it,” Ødegaard says of more conservative opposition strategies. “I like when I have to think about my game, think about the other team and what they’re doing. How will they protect me? How can I find spaces? It’s a good challenge and something I enjoy. You have to analyze the game and find places where you can hurt them and still be dangerous.”
When Arsenal are struggling, Ødegaard can be forced too deep and they tend to dominate the ball towards the sterile. On Friday, Mikel Arteta was asked about the importance of extra variety when their favorite patterns are not carrying results. “It is [important] because you become more unpredictable,” he said. “That makes it easier for us and harder for the opponent because they have to spend a lot of time preparing things.”
Early in his tenure there were times when Arsenal received criticism for being more modest than maverick. Arteta is a control stick and there is a danger that, while steps are being taken to mitigate the risk of chaos, the dial moves back too far again. He was not shy to point out that Jurriën Timber’s serious early-season injury, which occurred on his league debut against Nottingham Forest, took a dent in his formulations for the year. The same applied to the ongoing problems of Thomas Partey, who is still weeks away from being fit. “A huge blow,” said Arteta. “We also had other plans to be very versatile and unpredictable in our way of playing. We didn’t have them and that’s difficult.”
Perhaps January’s wheels and dealings will solve the problem: perhaps Arsenal will happen upon a striker who can add clinical finishing to the movement and effort that Gabriel Jesus offers; world-class coverage may eventually be listed; and with no one wanting to explore the spaces when Ødegaard is off key, it could be time to enlist reinforcements behind the striker.
“We set the bar high,” says Ødegaard. “We have set high standards from what we have done over the last 18 months. I want people to expect us to be at the top. That’s where we want to be, that’s what we expect from ourselves too.”
Supporters on Sunday will be hoping to see evidence, against a Liverpool side beleaguered by Mohamed Salah and heading into Wednesday’s League Cup semi-final first leg against Fulham, that those expectations can be fulfilled. still fulfill.
Fans will see a different Arsenal from the start: they will be wearing an all-white kit, for the first time in a home game, in this year’s iteration of the club’s No More Red campaign, which has done vital work in retaining young people . safe from knife crime and other violence. The message is important and its delivery is unique. Arsenal may be hoping that, in the case of their season, the game looks like a clear page of its own.
“I am happy with the situation and I am sure that we will succeed and improve,” says Ødegaard. It might help their cause if the spirit is buried 15 months ago.
