Arsenal boss Arteta plays down form fears after FA Cup defeat by Liverpool
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insists he is not worried about his team’s slump in form despite losing a third game in a row and crashing out of the FA Cup against Liverpool on Sunday.
Jakub Kiwior’s 80th-minute own goal and an injury-time strike from Luis Diaz earned Liverpool a 2-0 win and a place in the fourth round draw, which takes place on Monday evening.
Arteta’s team have now won just once in seven matches but the Spaniard took some consolation from the glut of chances his team created.
“It’s very difficult but if the team is getting hammered and not deserving to win football matches, I would be much more worried,” he said.
“I think we deserved to win the game. We were better than them. It’s a shame. I feel really sorry for the boys, against the best in-form team in Europe, they deserved something very different.
“Merit-wise, performance-wise, there is no question who deserved to win the game. What I ask the supporters is that they stay behind the team.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praised his team’s resilience and welcomed a winter break, which follows their Carabao Cup semi-final with Fulham on Wednesday.
“I’m super proud. It’s a super difficult draw, maybe the most difficult we could have got. With all the things we had to consider coming here, Arsenal lined up slightly different, that was smart.
“We changed a bit at half-time. We were really in the game in the second half. We scored the goals and brought the kids on. We fought for 95 minutes.
“I’m really happy and proud we could win this game. Arsenal could have won it without a doubt. We finished it off and it spoke for the character of the boys.”
Arsenal flew out of the traps and missed a string of chances to take a first-half lead. First Reiss Nelson hit the side netting after rounding Alisson and then Martin Odegaard smashed a shot against the bar from close range as Liverpool struggled to clear, before Bukayo Saka failed to convert an awkward cross.
Liverpool grew into the contest and Luis Diaz drew a smart low save from Aaron Ramsdale before the visitors made the breakthrough in the 80th minute, when Kiwior headed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner past his own goalkeeper.
Klopp’s men added a second deep into stoppage time when Diaz lashed into the top corner following a swift counter-attack.