Mikel Arteta sends warning to Liverpool ahead of Premier League clash

Mikel Arteta has insisted the Arsenal will be at their best when they face off against Liverpool on Sunday in a crucial Premier League clash.

The Gunners head into the game on Sunday off the back of two rather disappointing performances both in the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League. Arteta's side were well below par on Saturday at the Vitality Stadium, losing 2-0 to Bournemouth after going down to ten men - William Saliba received a straight red in the first half.

They were similarly poor against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday evening at the Emirates Stadium, but managed to scrape a win thanks to an own goal from Dmytro Riznyk.

Following two sub-par outings, manager Arteta has admitted that he was expecting a slight dip in form following a strenuous international break for his players, but insisted that they would be "flying" against Liverpool at the weekend.

"Well we played two and half days ago, after internationals, after flying from Brazil and many countries, I was expecting that we could drop off a little bit," he said.

"And the fact we put so much in the first half and didn’t convert and get the distance in terms of the result and the scoreline that far, I think we paid a little bit of that and then we made life more difficult for us because obviously we started to give the ball away and not regain the ball in the right areas and it was more open so that didn’t help but we have four days and believe me on Sunday we will be flying."

Arsenal head into the game four points adrift of table-toppers Liverpool having lost their first game of the season last weekend. They will also be without star defender William Saliba thanks to suspension and star forward Bukayo Saka due to a hamstring injury picked up on international duty.

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