Former Arsenal and Russia forward Andrey Arshavin can arguably be called one of the best experts on how to score against Liverpool at Anfield.
Fans still remember his iconic four-goal performance against the Merseyside club on April 21, 2009, when Arsenal drew 4:4 with Liverpool in the Premier League. That night, Arshavin became the first away player in league history to score four times against Liverpool at Anfield. With Qarabag set to face Liverpool in the eighth round of the Champions League league phase, Idman.Biz asked Arshavin what it takes to find the net in such a daunting away fixture.
Speaking exclusively to Idman.Biz, the former Arsenal forward shared his expectations for the match and explained how Qarabag should approach the game in England.
“Qarabag’s current Champions League campaign is a huge success, both for the club and for Azerbaijani football as a whole. Honestly, for me, and I think for many others, this level of performance has been a real surprise,” Arshavin said.
The former Arsenal player suggested that Qarabag may have players of very high quality in their squad.
“To be honest, I don’t follow Qarabag closely. I only watched the last 15 minutes of their match against Eintracht Frankfurt, where your team pulled off a dramatic win. I know that most of your players are foreigners, Brazilians. On the other hand, maybe you have such top-level players that Qarabag can even make the top eight of the Champions League. Apart from the name, I don’t really track the team, only when I see news about the club. But they made plenty of noise last season as well,” Arshavin noted.
It is worth mentioning that during that dramatic 3:2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, the decisive goal was scored by Azerbaijani defender Bakhlul Mustafazade.
Arshavin also explained what head coach Gurban Gurbanov’s side need to do to score at Anfield.
“Qarabag just need to play their own game,” Arshavin said with a smile. “If luck is on their side, scoring is definitely possible, especially considering that Liverpool are going through an unstable period right now. In fact, I think Qarabag will definitely score. The only question is whether that will be enough to earn points.”
The Champions League league phase match between Liverpool and Qarabag will be played today at Anfield, kicking off at 23:59 Baku time. Liverpool are fourth in the standings with 15 points, while Qarabag sit 18th with 10 points.
Teymur Tushiyev
