Wenger: Liverpool thrashing will hurt forever

Ian Watson

Arsene Wenger says Arsenal will be motivated to avenge their 4-0 defeat to Liverpool after admitting their Anfield humiliation will hurt for the rest of his life.

The Gunners were outclassed by Jurgen Klopp’s Reds in August in a defeat that led many to again question Wenger’s players’ mentality.

The two sides meet again on Friday, with Wenger insisting that Arsenal have it within themselves to atone for such an embarrassing defeat.

“Well, when you have such a long career as I have, you have some defeats unfortunately that hurt you for the rest of your life,” he admitted.

“I believe what is interesting in football is you always have a time to make up for it. When you can put things right, do it. So, let’s focus on what is in front of us and turn up on Friday night with a completely different performance.

“I don’t worry about the motivation. The motivation is there. This squad has a good mentality and it is about us, to make sure we are on top of our game. We must play with pace and a determined attitude.”

“I believe that Liverpool is very good going forward so you need overall a good defensive performance.

“I have to analyse that well and you have to guess a little bit who will play. It is not always the same – it depends on their personnel. They have plenty of offensive players and looking at them recently, they have changed a lot their teams so it is difficult to guess.

“The fact we are adaptable to both systems means it will be down to me to make the decision. Do we play in a four or a three or a five? I have some more time to think about that.”