Arteta urges perspective after Arsenal defeats as Liverpool loom

Mikel Arteta admits successive defeats have slowed Arsenal’s momentum but the Gunners boss is keeping a sense of perspective as he prepares for Sunday’s FA Cup clash against Liverpool.

Arteta’s side have slipped from the top of the Premier League table to fourth after taking just one point from their past three games.

Even the 1-1 draw at title rivals Liverpool two weeks ago was tinged with frustration as Arsenal squandered an early lead.

Arteta said recent defeats by West Ham and Fulham had been damaging but he was determined not to over-react ahead of the Liverpool showdown.

“Until Christmas Day we were top of the league,” he told reporters on Friday. “Six days later, we are fourth, so you can be very tempted to look at things with a microscope or with a telescope and look a little bit further and with a little bit more perspective. 

“My job big time is to look through the telescope and have perspective and analyse things in the proper way.”

Arteta said neither league leaders Liverpool nor Arsenal were expecting such a high-profile match in the third round of the FA Cup, the stage at which Premier League clubs enter the competition.

“It is the draw,” he said. “We played two weeks ago and it was an incredible match and I’m sure it will be a really good match again.

“We don’t have a choice. If you ask both teams, probably in the draw we were expecting something different, but we have this incredible clash in this round and we have to go for it.”

No club has won the FA Cup more often than Arsenal’s 14 triumphs and Arteta said he had a “real feeling” for the competition, which brought him his first silverware as Gunners boss in 2020.

“It’s a great competition, as I said before, especially for the club,” he said. “We have won it more times than anyone so we expect a great game and a good run.”