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Our second visit to the Emirates in 2022 sees us take on Arsenal, either with an opportunity to close the gap at the top of the league to 3 points once more, or even go top. Arteta has put more faith in youth, and Arsenal have looked much better for it. Still inconsistent of course, but it’s better to be inconsistent with younger players who can get better, rather than older players on massive contracts. Still, it’s a game where we can show them they still have a long long way to go before they can dine at the top table. What do we need? Accuracy. Ruthlessness. Tactical nous. Energy. Toughness. Ambition. Movement. Organisation. Nerve. Effervescence. Yer ma. I don’t ask for much. Last April in this fixture saw Liverpool dominate and eventually dismantle Arsenal’s resistance with 3 second half goals. Diogo powered in a header from Trent’s brilliant cross for the opener. Mo ran beyond the Arsenal back line and rode a challenge before placing the ball into the net through Leno’s legs to double our lead. By this point, it was a case of how many more we were prepared to push for. In the end, just the one more as Jota slammed home a ball across the box from Mo that had been slightly behind Sadio’s run. Diogo had anticipated though and got his just reward. We were starting to pick up points and climb the table to inch back into the Champions League places after a terrible January and February, and results like this one showed that while we had relinquished our throne as league champions already, we were still a force to be reckoned with. There were fewer doubts about the team in September 1983. Joe Fagan had taken over as manager from the great Sir Bob Paisley the previous summer but otherwise it was business as usual. We’d continued to dominate in the league and maintain our stranglehold on the League Cup, and would also go on to claim our fourth Big Ears in Rome. The quality shone through at Highbury as Skippy and Kenny saw off Terry Neill’s Gunners side for whom a young Charlie Nicholas was the talisman. Skippy’s goal is a bit of opportunism as he reacted first to the rebound after Robinson had seen his shot saved. Kenny’s goal though is a thing of beauty, perfectly encapsulating what we were about. Pass and Move is the Liverpool groove. Rushie switched the play from left to right to Wee Sammy. He played a one-two with Kenny on the edge of the area before picking out Robinson’s run in the inside right channel. Robinson back-heeled it to Kenny who, instead of hitting the ball first time or carrying it forward with his right, dummied over the ball, got it onto his left, found a better angle for a shot, and curled it majestically into the far top corner. The Arsenal players were all left to stand and watch the sheer quality. All in that nice yellow with red pinstripe away kit that Umbro gave us in the early 80s. Motson, back when he wasn’t a hysterical screeching harpy, got the commentary just right. He’s absolutely spot on with his description of the goal and the team. Here’s a good highlights vid of that game. The popular box office hit in September 1983 was Michael Keaton’s debut in a lead role, Mr. Mom. Written by John Hughes (he of various 1980s films that all had Molly Ringwald in them), it’s about a husband who loses his job working at Ford Motor Company, and decides to be a stay-at-home dad while his wife (played by Teri Garr, whom I am more familiar with as the actress who played Phoebe’s real mother in Friends), who’d raised their kids up to now, rejoins the rat race as an ad exec. I’ve heard of this film but never seen it, but I imagine the premise depicts loads of clichés about dads trying to look after kids and having a hard time of it in many, many comedic ways. I’d expect it with Keaton because his career is filled with fairly comedic roles, at times brilliantly so. America evidently loves stuff like this because so many other successful films have used the basic idea, as have TV sitcoms. I put it to you lot though. Is Mr. Mom any good? This is our last league fixture before the international break. We have an FA Cup tie at the weekend, but the Arsenal game presents an opportunity to continue putting the squeeze on City. Arsenal have improved in recent months, being slightly less inconsistent than the others around them. We still have the tools to do to them what we’ve been doing to them in the Klopp era. As ever, it’s about the right level of motivation and application. We can, therefore we shall.