Crisis-hit Arsenal brace for Liverpool test at League Cup

Arsenal would probably have preferred an easier League Cup opponent than Premier League leaders Liverpool as they bid to regroup following captain Granit Xhaka’s tantrum and a poor run of form.

However, that is the task that faces the Gunners on Wednesday heading to Anfield for their fourth round clash.

Unai Emery’s players have won just twice in their last eight Premier League games as opposed to Jurgen Klopp’s Champions League holders who have dropped just two points thus far this term.

Theirs is one of three all Premier League matches on Wednesday — the rest of the games are on Tuesday — with Chelsea hosting Manchester United and Aston Villa at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Liverpool’s last domestic honour dates back to lifting this trophy in 2012 but despite a desire to end that run Klopp is likely to field a very different line-up to the one that beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the Premier League at the weekend.

Mohamed Salah is one of the Liverpool stars who will be rested but Arsenal’s Emery may be tempted to select Xhaka to refocus his mind after his histrionics on Sunday storming down the tunnel after being substituted during the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.

Arsenal veteran Hector Bellerin -- who is ruled out of the match due to injury -- has called for everyone to calm down and pull together.

“It’s time to lift each other up, not to push each other away. We only win when we are together,” he tweeted.

Unlike Xhaka Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic enjoyed a memorable weekend in the best senses of the term scoring a hat-trick -- his first goals for the club and a small initial repayment on the £58 million they paid Borussia Dortmund for him.

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur’s players invited their manager and coaches to a bonding dinner in a fashionable London restaurant last week as a way of helping turn their season round, something their north London rivals Arsenal might want to copy.

Both the North London giants hopes of contesting the title are already over -- barring a remarkable Liverpool and Manchester City burn out. They will instead be embroiled in the attritional battle to make up the already significant gaps to Leicester and Chelsea to secure a Champions League spot.

The problem for Spurs may largely be a lack of form: just two wins in their last nine games.

The Gunners, on the other hand, are struggling with both poor performances and internal division as they prepare to Liverpool in the League Cup on Wednesday.

Xhaka’s substitution after Arsenal had surrendered a two goal lead in a draw with Crystal Palace highlighted the continuing rift between supporters and players.

When fans booed Xhaka, the Arsenal captain fired back ‘Fxxx off.’ On the sidelines team-mate Lucas Torreira wept. Three of the Xhaka’s team-mates visited him at home that night.

According to the British media Arsenal manager Unai Emery will not unilaterally decide who is captain and will consult the squad, who chose Xhaka by secret ballot in the first place.

Some critics argue that this democracy highlights the Spanish manager’s failure to show firm leadership by not chosing the captain himself.

The Xhaka saga piles more pressure on the 47-year-old former Sevilla and Paris Saint Germain coach.

Arsenal are fifth in the table but that gives a false picture of stability. They have only won two of their last eight Premier League matches.

Many have questioned whether Emery has had the impact the board hoped following the stagnation of the last years under their most successful manager Arsene Wenger. “We were better under Wenger,” an Arsenal director remarked acidly to The Sun following the Palace draw.

Hector Bellerin, the third captain in the squad-voted hierarchy, called for calm and unity.

“We are all humans, we all have emotions, and sometimes it’s not easy dealing with them,” he tweeted.

“It’s time to lift each other up, not to push each other away. We only win when we are together.”

A source at the club, who spoke at length to Tuesday’s edition of The Daily Telegraph, said Emery’s refusal to play mercurial German Mesut Ozil — apparently with the consent of the board — has also caused internal consternation.

The often infuriatingly inconsistent Ozil has been sitting on the sidelines while £72 million ($92 million) summer signing Nicolas Pepe has struggled to find his feet in England, He has scored only a penalty in eight Premier League starts, although he hit two in the Europa League on Thursday.

“You’ve got to wonder who is making the decisions. Has the coach been told not to play Ozil or does he have a problem with the player?” the source asked.

Agence France-Presse