Andoni Iraola previews Sunday's game with Arsenal and what his Liverpool need to do to beat the Premier League champions
When Andoni Iraola was informed on Friday that his Liverpool side had only conceded one goal via set-pieces this season, it was telling that he shot back with a response that hinted it was still a bone of contention.
While many supporters might have long forgotten the manner of the concession in game number six of 13 so far - a 3-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup - Iraola clearly has not.
So it stands to reason that a coach so attuned to the finer details will have a plan for when Premier League champions Arsenal come barreling into town on Sunday afternoon.
Mikel Arteta's side have become the most proficient side around from dead-ball scenarios, registering a remarkable 19 from corners alone last season and 25 in total, which was 35% of their league goals.
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Arteta's stilted style ultimately led to success in the top flight, which only emboldened copycat tributes across the division and that particular brand of football has lead to many ill-tempered debates about the current aesthetics of the Premier League.
Few games pass now without a succession of six-yard box scrums and almost every team has a long-throw expert to call upon when required. So standing up to the powerful set-piece specialists will go a long way towards Iraola claiming what would be the most significant win of his short Liverpool career to date this weekend.
Denying Arteta's Arsenal has been a task beyond so many in recent seasons but Liverpool restricted them impressively last season, winning 1-0 at Anfield in late August before an injury-hit and confidence-shot side earned a goalless draw in North London back in January.
Shutting out Arsenal once more might just see Iraola's emerging Liverpool enter the early talk around the title itself but the head coach knows his team will have to continue defending in the same sort of manner that has seen them ship just one goal with 11 men on the pitch since August.
"It is very early in the season because [Arsenal] hadn't scored [from set-pieces] until the last weekend and now they have scored two goals," Iraola says. "I hope they stay there for a while but they are a big threat. From set-pieces they are a big threat.
"They have very tall players who are very good headers and they work it very well. They give you a big demand and I think we will have to defend very well. I think we have, touch wood, dealt very well with defending set-pieces so far this season. But it's probably the biggest challenge, yes.
"The head coaches are not there every minute and we cannot control everything with the set-plays, so it is (assistants) Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper who are the ones in charge with the analysts this season. I am happy, we are dealing with it well.
"But it is very early in the season so I don't want to say this and then we start conceding set-pieces. It is a long-term thing and I hope we can keep it this way.
"Defensively, we are defending really well lately but still we have some situations where we need to improve. In the league, we have been less dangerous offensively. So it is still too early to take big conclusions but there are improvements needed everywhere, yes."
Key to Liverpool's defensive solidity has been Jeremy Jacquet's burgeoning partnership with Virgil van Dijk and the form of Ronald Araujo at full-back. The Manchester City defeat aside, when the visitors racked up a 3-0 win at Anfield after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off an hour in, Iraola's men have shipped five goals in seven games.
Uruguay international Araujo has used his centre-half instincts on the right side to great effect, reinforcing a backline that already has Van Dijk as its leader and the vaunted Alisson Becker behind it.
Iraola says of Araujo: "Yes it definitely helps having a centre-back at right-back when we talk about defending set-pieces.
"It helps a bit with the height and the physicality of the team, you know. It helps us to defend better but it is true that you lose a little bit also offensively on the other side.
"Offensively we cannot demand of Ronald the same thing of other full-backs and what they give us. But we have to balance this with other positions and other patterns."
"In terms of results we are now probably in the best place but even in the first bunch of games I think, the two draws at the beginning condition everything else.
"Apart from that most of the results have been good, no? We still need to improve a lot like many of the teams right now, especially those who have changed managers. We need to keep improving a lot, this is normal, we knew this [would happen]. The good thing is we are improving while getting good results."
Given the two teams head into the game having only scored one more combined than Brighton's 23 this term, neutrals may be subjected to a war of Anfield attrition on Sunday.
But victory for the hosts will be the biggest sign yet that they are becoming a serious team once more.
