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LONDON. — Liverpool will hope to draw inspiration from memories of last season’s thrilling 5-1 demolition of Arsenal when the teams resume hostilities in the English Premier League at Anfield this weekend.
Arsene Wenger’s side were routed on their last trip to Liverpool’s famous stadium in February, when a devastating four-goal salvo inside the first 20 minutes left the north London club reeling.
It was the start of an 11-game winning run that took Liverpool to within sight of the title.
Their subsequent collapse has been followed by a wretched start to the current campaign, with last weekend’s chastening 3-0 defeat at Manchester United leaving them 18 points behind leaders Chelsea in 11th place.
But having emerged from a taxing trip to Championship leaders Bournemouth in the League Cup with a 3-1 victory in mid-week, manager Brendan Rodgers is hopeful that his side have turned a corner.
“Slowly we are getting there. I’ve said that my teams have shown at Liverpool that we get better and better,” Rodgers said after Liverpool’s quarter-final success at Dean Court.
“A lot of players are adapting. I’ve been looking to find ways and solutions to make us more creative as we haven’t been that at all this season and that is the mark of the team.”
Arsenal lost 3-2 at Stoke City in their last domestic away game, but have since produced back-to-back 4-1 wins over Galatasaray in the Champions League and Newcastle United in the league.
The home victory over Newcastle left Wenger’s side in sixth place in the table, five points clear of Liverpool and two points shy of the Champions League places.
Wenger has revealed that winger Theo Walcott, who has played only two games this season following a long-term knee injury, is in contention to feature after shrugging off a groin complaint.
“He is back in training today (Thursday), but only today,” Wenger told the club website.
“I might take him. I don’t know yet until he is back to full training. Let’s see.”
Walcott made just two brief substitute appearances after recovering from a nine month lay-off due to a serious knee injury before sustaining the groin problem that has kept him on the sidelines for over a month.
But the England international trained with the first-team on Thursday and manager Wenger is considering naming Walcott in the squad that travels to Anfield this weekend.
Walcott’s return provides the Gunners’ injury-hit squad with a major boost going into the hectic festive period.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain didn’t train with the first team on Wednesday, but his omission is viewed as a precaution with the attacking midfielder expected to be passed fit for the clash against Liverpool after recovering from a groin injury sustained in Saturday’s win over Newcastle.
Likewise, Nacho Monreal has a chance of being available for the clash against Brendan Rodgers’ side after recovering from an ankle injury.
Ospina is back in full training and Tomas Rosicky should be back next week.
Wenger will be without Jack Wilshere (ankle), Mesut Ozil (knee), Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Mikel Arteta (calf), Laurent Koscielny (achilles) and Rosicky (thigh) for the trip to Merseyside.
Wenger claims Arsenal will not be scarred by last season’s 5-1 thrashing at Liverpool when they return to Anfield tomorrow.
The Gunners’ heavy defeat on Merseyside in February marked the beginning of the end of their title challenge after Arsenal had rung in 2014 as Premier League leaders.
Boss Wenger has been lifted by Walcott’s return to training after a groin strain and the England striker has an outside chance of facing last season’s runners-up.
But Le Professeur insists there will be no hang-ups about returning to the scene of a defensive apocalypse – not least because the goals have dried up for Liverpool this season.
He said: “Liverpool scored over a hundred goals in the League last year and they were very good going forward.
This season they have scored 19, so they are not on the same trend offensively.
Fixtures (all 5pm unless otherwise stated)
Today: Aston Villa v Manchester United; Hull City v Swansea City; Manchester City v Crystal Palace (2:45pm); Queens Park Rangers v West Bromwich Albion; Southampton v Everton; Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley; West Ham United v Leicester City
Tomorrow: Newcastle United v Sunderland (3:30pm; Liverpool v Arsenal (6pm)
Monday: Stoke City v Chelsea (10pm). — AFP
Online Reporter