Kenny Dalglish insists Liverpool's task hasn't been made any easier by Arsenal's mounting problems ahead of tomorrow's clash at the Emirates Stadium.
The Reds will face a depleted Gunners line up as they go in search of their first away win over Arsene Wenger's side since February 2000.
Arsenal has been rocked by the departure of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona and Samir Nasri is set to join Manchester City.
To add to Wenger's woes Gervinho and Alex Song are suspended, while Kieran Gibbs, Johan Djourou and Jack Wilshere are all struggling with injuries.
However, Dalglish has urged his players to forget about the Gunners and focus on themselves.
“It's not going to make it any easier for us that they've lost Fabregas and that Nasri might not be playing,” the Reds boss said.
“They've got a couple of suspensions but it's still going to be a difficult game for us.
“Arsenal have been most football fans' second team as they're very entertaining to watch.
“They're still a team I have the greatest respect for. We'll go there with the same feelings that we had last season - that it's going to be a really difficult game.
“I don't know how they're going to react but it's about what we do. We can control what we do and hopefully we can make it as difficult for them as they will for us.”
The Reds will take heart from their last trip to the Emirates back in April when Dirk Kuyt's 102 nd minute spot-kick earned them a hard-fought point.
“That was a great result for us,” Dalglish said.
“We had young Flanno (Jon Flanagan) at right-back and then Fabio Aurelio went off early on and Robbo (Jack Robinson) came on at 17 years of age to play against Theo Walcott, an England international, and did fantastically well.
“We battled hard throughout the game, competed really well and we got what we deserved from it.”
Dalglish will be looking for a repeat display from Jose Enrique after the left-back's impressive debut in last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Sunderland. The manager is delighted to have the classy Spaniard on board.
“He's a good player, he's got experience in the Premier League and he's settled into the way of life in England so that's helpful,” he said.
“His English is good, it's better than mine and his football is better than mine as well, so we're quite happy with the signing of Jose.
“It's a position we had to strengthen. Young Jack Robinson has got fantastic potential, but we have to responsible with him. He's 17 and to throw him in and expect him to play a full season would have been wrong but he'll be there or thereabouts.”
Glen Johnson (hamstring) remains doubtful but Dalglish has no other fresh injury concerns. Martin Skrtel has returned to full training following a calf problem and is available for selection.
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