Thursday, 13th February, 2014
Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker feels sure that the weekend 5-1 defeat against Liverpool played its part in his side drawing 0-0 against Manchester United.
At Anfield, Arsenal had been 4-0 down after just 20 minutes, something they were determined would not repeat itself at the Emirates Stadium against Manchester United.
mobile ad
Both sides lacked the intensity and urgency to win the game and it limped to a goalless draw. And for the Germany centre-back, the seeds of that were most probably sown on Saturday.
"It was a difficult game tonight because of the defeat to Liverpool on Saturday", he told his club's site.
relatedNewsStory
"It was the same as when we lost [6-3] to Manchester City, the next game we drew 0-0 [against Chelsea].
"Maybe it says that our focus was there to put everything into a defensive level. It is hard to keep them quiet over 90 minutes but we only gave them two chances and defensively that was great.
"We gave absolutely everything. It was not good enough against Liverpool but here we came back and we are looking forward to facing Liverpool in the FA Cup on Sunday now."
Don't bet on football until you've visited Inside Bet! Interesting markets, top tips, betting facts – get all the info before you bet.
