Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has unleashed an astonishing rant on Liverpool ahead of Sunday's clash at the Emirates Stadium. The Reds have had a difficult start to the season, languishing in mid-table after winning just two of their first seven Premier League matches, and Petit has pulled no punches in his verdict of Jurgen Klopp's side.
Petit won just one of his eight games against Liverpool as a player, but he is expecting his old side to pile the misery on a Reds team who he has labelled as 'terrible' and 'broken'. Arsenal are a whole 11 points clear of Liverpool after just eight games, although the Merseyside club have played one match less.
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Liverpool have dominated this fixture in recent years and not many would have predicted at the start of the season that they'd head into Sunday's game as outsiders. The Reds have only beaten Newcastle United and AFC Bournemouth this season, while they've dropped points to the likes of Fulham, Crystal Palace and Everton.
"When you look at Liverpool at the moment, they look so sloppy, terrible," Petit told Compare.bet. "Something has been broken in this team. This could be the last chance for Liverpool to make something of this season, if they lose to Arsenal, they will be 14 points behind after nine games. It’s a huge gap.
"There are so many weaknesses. There are so many things that are not working with Liverpool. There is something that’s broken with this team. Mentally, they are not the same unit they have been for the last four or five years. Physically as well.
"I think with the fact (Sadio) Mane has gone, you can see something is missing up front as well. (Mohamed) Salah is a shadow of himself at the moment. The midfield don’t control the tempo anymore, they are not playing with character and personality. And in defence, my God. So many individual and collective mistakes, easily avoidable mistakes.
"They are not the same players they used to be. They don’t have the same concentration, the anger to beat the other team, to hurt them, to put pressure on them. They don’t run together anymore. They used to run together, like a unit, and the opponent would be scared of them."
An area that pundits have already highlighted as one Arsenal can exploit is down the left-hand side, with Gabriel Martinelli up against Trent Alexander-Arnold. William Gallas has backed the Brazilian to give Alexander-Arnold a tough afternoon on Sunday. The full-back has received criticism for his performances, with Petit labelling him as 'one of the worst' defenders when not on the ball.
"Martinelli is very confident, and every time he runs with the ball, he is so quick, so fast, and that’s exactly what Trent doesn’t like," said Petit. To be one-on-one with a player that can hurt him.
"I don’t know how Trent is going to defend him, but the problem with Liverpool’s defence isn’t only on him. It’s the whole defence, and when I say that, I mean the whole team, because they start from the front.
"They are not doing the same job all over the pitch that they used to, and it means the team is too stretched. I think Trent is very good with the ball, but he’s one of the worst without it."
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