Mikel Arteta says his Arsenal side cannot be compared with Invincibles ahead of Liverpool clash – ‘They created a legacy’

Asked in his pre-match press conference if the current team are as good as Wenger’s history makers, Arteta said: “No, because the Invincibles won a lot.

“They won consistently, and they created a history and a legacy, and we have to do that.

“There are a lot of stats, but in the last two or three years we have managed more points and more goals than ever before. But at the end, we have to translate that to major trophies.

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“Probably doing what we are doing now would have been enough (in 2004), but now it’s not, and we have to make the margins even bigger.”

Arsenal’s title bid will be strengthened if they are to beat Arne Slot’s Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.

Arteta’s side have won five league games in a row, enjoying a strong festive period, but the Spaniard claimed there is “a point to prove” against Liverpool.

“It’s a massive game against the champions and we have a point to prove,” he said.

“We have to prove that we can go again and again. We had it a few days ago against Bournemouth, after a great win against Aston Villa, and it’s going to continue like that until May.

“We know that because once we are in the position that we are in we want to maintain and extend the lead that we have and in order to do that our level of determination and desire has to be with that mindset.”

Gilberto and Thierry Henry of Arsenal with the Premier League trophy after the match between Arsenal and Leicester City in the Premier League at Highbury on May 15, 2004 in London, England

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On Liverpool, who have recovered from a poor period to record a nine-match unbeaten run in all competitions, Arteta added: “I still think that they are a superb team, and you have to understand the context they’ve had with certain injuries, and the difficulty of the league for all of us, but my opinion hasn’t changed about them.

“The margins I think for all of us are very small, we always talk about that. They have a great manager and they have a sensational structure, understanding what they have to do.

“In relation to the players that they select tomorrow in the line-up, they can play in different ways. We have to be conscious of that and then focus on what we have to do.”

Arsenal will be without Riccardo Calafiori, Cristhian Mosquera and Max Dowman for Thursday’s game, but Arteta gave a positive update on forward Kai Havertz’s fitness. The German has been absent since the opening day of the season with a knee injury.

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“We are monitoring Kai’s situation and his load,” Arteta said.

“He has been out for a long time. He’s very close, he trained (on Wednesday morning) again, and hopefully we’re going to have him available and have the best version of Kai Havertz.”