Arsenal warned Liverpool clash is 'must-win' in title race by Anfield icon

Liverpool fable Graeme Souness believes the Reds' clash with Arsenal connected Sunday already "must-win" for the Gunners if they are to triumph the Premier League this season

Arsenal person been warned that Sunday's clash with Liverpool is already a "must-win" crippled for them.

The Gunners presently beryllium 3rd successful the Premier League aft suffering a shock 2-0 nonaccomplishment to Bournemouth past play and a decision to Liverpool volition permission them 7 points down league leaders Liverpool.

It would besides permission Arsenal six points down defending champions Manchester City, provided they bushed Southampton this weekend, and Liverpool fable Graeme Souness believes that would beryllium a "serious dent" to their rubric hopes.

"We are lone 8 games into the season, but this already feels similar a 'must-win' for Arsenal," Souness said successful a file for the Daily Mail. "It is surely a bigger crippled for them than it is Liverpool, successful presumption of however it impacts their play and their contiguous welfare.

"Lose and they volition beryllium 7 points down their opponents and astir surely six down Manchester City, who big Southampton connected Saturday. Given the good margins of caller seasons successful the rubric race, that would consciousness similar a large pb to springiness 2 fantabulous rivals.

"With that determination volition beryllium speech of their situation taking a superior dent, and the unit connected the games aft — trips to Newcastle and Chelsea — volition beryllium huge. A decision connected Sunday would instrumentality immoderate recovering from, and they would person to triumph immoderate precise large matches to get radical believing again.

"I'm not definite however immoderate of their players would grip that. But that is the terms connected the summons if you're a large subordinate astatine a large nine — woody with it! And the champion mode to bash that? It's precise simple: spell and bushed Liverpool."

However, Gunners brag Mikel Arteta is confident his broadside volition beryllium "flying" erstwhile they instrumentality connected Liverpool. "I was expecting a spot of a driblet off," Arteta admitted aft Arsenal's constrictive 1-0 triumph implicit Shakhtar Donetsk successful the Champions League.

"And the information that we enactment truthful overmuch successful the archetypal fractional and didn't get the region successful presumption of the scoreline, I deliberation we paid a spot for that. Then we made beingness much hard for america due to the fact that we started springiness the shot distant successful not the close areas and past it was much open.

"That didn't help. But we person present 4 days. Believe me, travel Sunday we'll beryllium flying. For sure. We'll review, person a time off, past 2 days to hole the game. Sunday is acold and we are much than comfy that we'll beryllium successful the close place."

Join our caller WhatsApp community and person your regular dose of Mirror Football content. We besides dainty our assemblage members to peculiar offers, promotions, and adverts from america and our partners. If you don't similar our community, you tin cheque retired immoderate clip you like. If you're curious, you tin work our Privacy Notice.