ARSENAL will look to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table when they face Liverpool tomorrow.
The Gunners currently boast an impressive eight-point advantage over title rivals Manchester City with just nine games to go.
Sunday’s trip to Anfield is expected to set the tone for the remainder of the season.
If Arsenal win, they will move one step closer to the Premier League trophy.
But a loss will leave them in a vulnerable position, with Pep Guardiola’s City side waiting to capitalise on any mistakes.
Previously, the prospect of an away day – especially at Anfield – would have struck fear into any Arsenal team.
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But this season has been different.
The Gunners boast the best away record in the Premier League, with a total of 34 points taken from 14 games.
That is a huge improvement from last season, when they ended the campaign with the sixth-best away record.
Since re-joining the club as manager in 2019, Mikel Arteta has gradually introduced small changes to squad protocols off the pitch in order to improve overall performance – especially on away days.
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And those changes have finally started to take effect.
According to the Evening Standard, the Arsenal squad always travel together the day before a game and stay overnight at a hotel.
A key part of their pre-match preparation is having a meal as a group the night before.
While this may sound like a standard procedure for most teams before an away day, Arteta has implemented a unique rule to make sure that players and staff rotate who they sit with during meal times.
The Arsenal boss also organises mental-based games – including spot the difference – for the players to take part in while at the hotel so that they remain stimulated.
Then on the morning of the match, the squad collectively go out on a walk around the local area.
This season, Arteta has also introduced some new features to the away dressing room.
Several posters are now taken to any game on the road in order to make the away dressing room feel more like the Emirates Stadium.
The two main banners – for ‘identity’ and ‘unity’ – can be broken down to represent each of Arteta’s key values.
The word ‘identity’ breaks down to read: intensity, discipline, enjoy, non-negotiables, trust, improve, team and you.
While the word ‘unity’ reads: unique, non-negotiables, identity, tradition and you.
Following Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage last month, the Gunners were pictured in the dressing room with a small replica of the iconic clock from the Clock End of the Emirates Stadium and formerly Highbury.
It later emerged that Arteta and his coaching staff chose to bring the clock to away games as part of a psychological strategy to make each dressing room more homely.
While these strategies have proved to be faultless so far this season, Sky Sports pundit, and former Liverpool star, Graeme Souness has heavily criticised Arsenal for them.
In his column for The Daily Mail, he wrote: “I read the story about Arsenal taking their home comforts into opposition dressing rooms and had to read it again to make sure it wasn’t a joke.
“Really? Is this what the modern game has become?
“So Arsenal players arrive at Fulham to find their own clock is on the wall along with their own pictures and stickers?
“It’s extremely strange and only a winning manager can get away with that.
“The Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is doing a fine job but he has form for such nonsense.
“Last season he had You’ll Never Walk Alone played over the loudspeakers at training to prepare his players for a game at Anfield. They lost 4-0, so that went well for them.
“When I walked into an opposing dressing room I didn’t want to feel comfortable. I didn’t want to feel like I was in my living room at home. I was at work. I was on enemy territory and I wanted to feel fired up.
“If I had arrived at an away ground to find a clock from Anfield waiting for me on the wall, I would have burst out laughing. And I would not have been alone.”
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Arsenal’s upcoming clash with Liverpool will act as a huge test.
The Gunners have not won a Premier League game at Anfield since 2012, so Arteta will be eager to end the torrid 11-year run of poor results.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
