What is expected from Arsenal against Liverpool?

No team heads to Anfield as the outstanding favourite, other than the hosts. There are teams who can match them pound for pound, but Arsenal are not one of them.

They can certainly be competitive though, and the run of results and performances leading up to Saturday’s clash have Mikel Arteta’s side in a place few saw imaginable after the opening three matches of the season.

Still tipped to lose this, there is the sneaky voice in the back of some peoples’ heads that says ‘maybe’.

Before the campaign had kicked off it was abundantly clear that this season would not be defined by what Arsenal can achieve away at the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. Even after 11 matches and with the chance of potentially sitting third by the time this round of fixtures is over, that hasn’t changed.

Progression at Arsenal will not be defined by matches against Liverpool in the Premier League and a commendable performance can still be positive

The defining moments of this season would always be how the team would fare in the cluster just below the top four: the West Ham’s, Leicester’s and now Manchester United’s of this division. The aim remains to return to Europe this season and there can be no room to drastically readjust targets based on a favourable run of matches, even if the improvements are clear.

So with three points being, shall we say, unlikely, what can we realistically expect from Arsenal at Anfield?

It comes back to competitiveness. It’s not about defeat, should it come to it, it’s about the manner of defeat. Manchester United’s 2-0 home loss to Manchester City is a prime example of the scoreline looking questionably respectable, but the performance telling an entirely different story.

Were Arsenal to lose 2-0 on Saturday, how they would go about doing so is where we take stock. Progress is not linear and ending the unbeaten streak against Liverpool while putting in a credible performance that embodies the positive aspects of this run will, at least, provide solace in points being lost.

There should be no immediate resignation of defeat. The team won’t believe that. But there does need to be realism injected into the proceedings and taking a step back and accepting that Liverpool are years ahead of where Arsenal hope to be one day is the mindset that needs to be adopted.

Arsenal can only dream of being where Jurgen Klopp’s side are in the Premier League and Europe. If this team can give that team one of the tougher matches they’ll endure all season long at their own formidable home then the steps being taken won’t be footprints in the snow easily covered over, and instead those taken in wet cement ready to harden.

Progress is key, and showing that in a way that doesn’t necessarily entail securing victory at Liverpool will offer reassurances that the trajectory isn’t an illusion; it is real and Arsenal are still heading in the right direction.

The future can still be bright, whatever transpires.