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Mikel Arteta fires warning to Liverpool with Arsenal vow: ‘We’ll be flying’
Mikel Arteta promised that Arsenal will “be flying” against Liverpool this weekend after admitting his side “looked tired” in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Gunners maintained their unbeaten start in the revamped Champions League but made hard work of the Ukrainian visitors following goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk’s own goal after 29 minutes.
Leandro Trossard summed up Arsenal’s night in front of goal by missing a second-half penalty, which Riznyk saved with his legs, and David Raya was forced into a smart save in stoppage-time to deny Pedrinho.
“Two very different halves,” Arteta said afterwards. “The first one we were very dominant and created four big, big chances.
“We should have put the game to bed with the amount of dominance and territory that we had. We looked tired. We lacked that sharpness with and without the ball to regain the ball in the right moments and areas and gave certain balls away that allow certain transitions. We had chances again and missed a big penalty.
“That emotion was difficult to overcome and then we had to dig in. But credit to them. They are a big side and the moment you give them space and you hand them chances in transition they look a real threat. But overall it’s Champions League, get the win, clean sheet. Let’s move on.
“We played two nights ago with players coming from internationals after flying from Brazil and many countries.
“I was expecting a bit of a drop off. And the fact that we put so much in the first half and didn’t get the distance in terms of the scoreline, I think we paid a bit for that. Then we made life more difficult for us because we started give the ball away in not the right areas and then it was more open. That didn’t help.
“But we have now four days. Believe me, come Sunday we’ll be flying.”
Gabriel Martinelli made Arsenal’s goal, the Brazilian’s shot striking the post and rebounding over the line off Riznyk’s back.
“He looked really sharp, really fresh as well,” Arteta said of Martinelli.