Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that his players will line up and give Liverpool a guard of honor before the teams play each other at Anfield this weekend.
Having wrapped up the Premier League title with four games to spare, it is tradition for Liverpool to be welcomed onto the field by its remaining opponents. Chelsea did so last weekend at Stamford Bridge, albeit to boos from the home end.
“They deserve that,” Arteta said. “They have been the better team, the most consistent. They fully deserve it and that’s sport. When somebody is better, you have to applaud.”
The Gunners have previously given Liverpool a guard of honor. That was back at the end of the 2019-20 season, also under Arteta, when Jurgen Klopp’s side had run away with the league title.
Clubs are under no obligation to perform a guard of honor but it would be a bad look not to take part. Liverpool also faces Brighton and Crystal Palace before the end of the season.
Arsenal has tailed off recently in the Premier League. It now trails Liverpool by 15 points and Manchester City is chasing down second spot in the table.
It is almost certain that the Gunners will need at least one more win to ensure Champions League qualification. A top-two finish will depend on being able to match or better Manchester City’s results.
“Liverpool has won the title with less points than we had in the last two seasons,” Arteta said earlier this week. “With the points from the last two season, we have two Premier Leagues.”
That, though, is not true. What Arteta was overlooking is that Liverpool has collected 82 points from 35 games, while Arsenal had 80 points after the same amount of games last season.
Liverpool could still finish the season with 91 points, which would have been enough to deny the Gunners the title in each of the last two seasons. The Reds have also finished well past the 90-point barrier twice before, only to lose the title to Manchester City.
