Granit Xhaka has called on his teammates to refocus following their latest trip to Anfield with Tottenham due to arrive at the Emirates next week.
Liverpool and Tottenham are not the same, nor is Arsenal at home the same as Arsenal at Anfield, so while some might be crapping themselves ahead of next weekend’s North London derby, it is a great chance to highlight just how far Arsenal have actually progressed over the summer months.
Of course, we are still very much a side in transition that’s trying to shake loose two decades of Arsene Wenger’s ways and the Spurs game might come to early into the season for us to be as effective as we’d like. But there were reasons to be optimistic following Arsenal’s defeat at Anfield and Granit Xhaka wants us to move our focus there.
“We have nothing to take from this game [against Liverpool] or other games because it’s a derby and we know how important it is for the fans, the club and for us,” Xhaka said. “We have shown in the last few years that we can have very good games against them. Let’s start getting ready this week so we’re ready to play against Spurs.”
He also explained, simply, why Arsenal struggled against Liverpool: “They have a good team, a great team of great players and it’s always difficult here. It’s not only for us, a lot of teams find it difficult when they come here. It’s one game and we’ve lost today but we have to be positive for the next few weeks.”