No excuses for Arteta and Arsenal with new signings set for Liverpool trip | Barney Ronay

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View image in fullscreenNo excuses for Arteta and Arsenal with new signings set for Liverpool trip

Three seasons of work from the head coach on the same host body have led in a straight line to Anfield where Arteta can shape his destiny

After tea and cake and Declan Rices.

Uncertainty is key to its fascination.

In reality the Arteta era has brought fresh energy, the team regeared, Champions League status re-established.

For Arteta it is instead the 117th game of 152, three seasons of work on the same host body that have led in a straight line to this point.

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And this is the kind of game that can offer a genuine point of ignition.

On Sunday it will be almost exactly six years since an Arsenal team managed by Arteta’s predecessor also travelled to Anfield.

That Jürgen Klopp Liverpool team were at a similar point in their lifespan to the current Arsenal: also coming off three seasons of progress, also desperate to end a title drought, also rebalanced around some key recent signings.

In the event Liverpool ran right over Unai Emery’s team, won 3-1, strolled about the place bathed in champion aura, and obliterated the rest of the field from that point.

It was also, and here we must cue the eerie, conspiratorial music, Klopp’s own 117th league game of his first three full seasons in charge.

At this point the comparison falls away into pattern seeking and general numberwang.

This time around they have an opportunity to assert from the off what seems undeniably true, that they have the best-balanced squad of any top team, and in the process take the season by the throat as Liverpool did last time.

More to the point, there really are no excuses now.