Soccer-Iraola says too soon for title talk as in-form Liverpool welcome Arsenal

Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - October 25, 2026 Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola celebrates after the match REUTERS/Phil Noble

Oct 30 (Reuters) - Liverpool coachAndoni Iraola refused ⁠to let a five-match winning run go to his team's head on Friday, ⁠saying it was too early to discuss a Premier League title challenge before champions ‌Arsenal visit Anfield on Sunday.

After a humbling 3-0 defeat by Manchester City this month,Iraola's side have won five straight games across three competitions, including Wednesday's penalty shootout victory over Chelsea to reach the League Cup quarter-finals.

Fourth-placed Liverpool are ​six points behind Arsenal.

"It's still October, take one game at ⁠a time and I always say ⁠the first reference is normally when we have played against each other once, halfway through the ⁠season, ‌and then you can start looking at the standings," Iraola told reporters.

"Now we are in a position where we need to improve, keep getting better.Can fans dream? It's ⁠good if they have expectations and think we can win. ​But if you ask me, ‌it is still early."

GOOD RECORD AGAINST ARSENAL

Iraola has a good record against Arsenal having ⁠won three of ​his last four meetings with Mikel Arteta's side as Bournemouth head coach.

With Arsenal chasing a first win at Anfield since 2012, the Spaniard said past records would count for little.

"It is true we had good ⁠results against them with Bournemouth but it does not ​mean a lot as it is a totally different team, different group of players, different moments," he said.

"At the end of the day it is about winning the duels, running more than them, ⁠winning the aerial duels, set plays, mini games, these things that you have to control against Arsenal. They are the champions, they are top of the league right now, they have only lost one game this season."

Sunday's match offers Iraola the chance to meet up with his ​former teammateArteta after they came through the youth ranks together in ⁠San Sebastian in Spain's Basque Country.

"Last week was (Chelsea boss) Xabi (Alonso), now Mikel, a lot of former ​friends on the opposition bench lately. I think it is ‌a good thing in terms of spending 5-10 ​minutes after the game normally with them," Iraola said.

Dominik Szoboszlai (hamstring) and Victor Munoz (knee) could feature after recovering from injuries.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)

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足球 - 英超联赛 - 利物浦对阵布莱顿 - 安菲尔德球场，利物浦，英国 - 2026年10月25日 利物浦主教练安多尼·伊劳拉赛后庆祝 路透社/菲尔·诺布尔

10 月 30 日（路透社）——利物浦主教练安多尼·伊拉奥拉周五表示，球队五连胜不会让他们骄傲自满，他说在卫冕冠军阿森纳周日做客安菲尔德之前，现在讨论英超冠军挑战还为时过早。

本月早些时候，伊劳拉率领的球队以 0-3 惨败于曼城，但随后他们在三项赛事中取得了五连胜，其中包括周三在点球大战中战胜切尔西，晋级联赛杯四分之一决赛。

排名第四的利物浦落后阿森纳6分。

“现在还是十月，一场一场地来。我总是说，第一个参考点通常是在我们彼此交手一次之后，也就是赛季中期，然后你才能开始看积分榜，”伊拉奥拉告诉记者。

“现在我们需要不断进步，变得更好。球迷们可以有梦想吗？如果他们对我们抱有期望，认为我们能赢，那当然很好。但如果你问我，现在下结论还为时过早。”

对阵阿森纳战绩良好

伊劳拉对阵阿森纳的战绩不错，作为伯恩茅斯主教练，他在最近四次与米克尔·阿尔特塔执教的阿森纳交锋中赢得了三场。

阿森纳正力争自 2012 年以来首次在安菲尔德球场取得胜利，这位西班牙人表示，过去的记录意义不大。

“的确，我们之前代表伯恩茅斯对阵他们时取得了不错的成绩，但这并不意味着什么，因为这是一支完全不同的球队，不同的球员群体，不同的时代，”他说。

“归根结底，比赛的关键在于赢得对抗，跑动距离要比他们长，空中对抗、定位球、小回合比赛都要赢，这些都是对阵阿森纳必须掌控的环节。他们是卫冕冠军，目前排名联赛榜首，本赛季至今只输过一场比赛。”

周日的比赛让伊劳拉有机会与他的前队友阿尔特塔重聚，他们曾在西班牙巴斯克地区的圣塞巴斯蒂安一起接受青年队训练。

“上周是（切尔西主帅）哈维（阿隆索），现在又是阿尔特塔，最近很多老朋友都出现在了对手的替补席上。我觉得赛后能和他们聊上5到10分钟挺好的，”伊劳拉说道。

多米尼克·索博斯莱（腿筋）和维克托·穆尼奥斯（膝盖）伤愈后可能会出场。

（班加罗尔 Rohith Nair 报道，Ed Osmond 编辑）

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