Are Liverpool back? Andoni Iraola’s evolving project now faces the ultimate test

When Andoni Iraola and Mikel Arteta talked on 20 May, each could praise his boyhood friend for a historic achievement. While Arteta had just won Arsenal ’s first Premier League title for 22 years, the kingmaker was Iraola, whose Bournemouth team had held Manchester City , leaving the Gunners four points clear with a game to go. “We spoke the next day just to congratulate each other because it was massive for us as we got Europe,” Iraola said. If Iraola was an unwitting ally to Arteta then, now he assumes the role of obstacle to his fellow Basque’s ambitions. It is not merely because he has three victories in their last four meetings . “It doesn’t mean a lot,” said Iraola; now he has different players and a different team. Then he faced Arsenal as underdogs, now perhaps as equals. But there is a school of thought that, if Arsenal do not retain their title, Liverpool are the likeliest champions. That mantle would rest with Manchester City, but the threat of a sizeable points deduction hangs over them. Liverpool have already lost to City at Anfield ; beat Arsenal, as they did last year , and the gap between is reduced to three points. Lose and a nine-point deficit could look too big to overhaul. Alexander Isak is enjoying his best run at Liverpool with six goals in six in the Premier League (Getty) It isn’t Iraola’s way to talk about the title . “It is too early to start looking at the standings,” he said, arguing they take on a greater meaning when everyone has played everyone else once. It may be more instructive how few others contemplated the prospect of Liverpool winning the league, given that they were defending champions last year. That says something about how unsuccessful their defence of their crown was. They trailed in 25 points behind Arsenal. They then appointed a manager, in Iraola, with a track record of improving teams and players, but not of winning trophies. They stumbled out of the blocks this season. “In the first bunch of games, I think the two draws at the beginning condition everything else,” said Iraola. After being held by Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, and trailing to each, there were few predictions of imminent glory. Even now, when Liverpool have gathered momentum on a run of five straight wins, Iraola has noted only two have come in the Premier League. He is aware his side are more prolific in Europe. “In the [English] league, we have been less dangerous offensively,” he said. But there are encouraging elements. Without quite reaching the levels he did at Newcastle, Alexander Isak has nevertheless scored six goals in his last six top-flight games. Iraola’s band of four wingers have shown a productivity, with eight goals and nine assists between them in all competitions. Despite all preferring the left, each has delivered when on the right; in a match-up with Arsenal, without Bukayo Saka and Max Dowman, possibly without Christos Tzolis or Noni Madueke, Iraola could seem to have the better options on the flanks. Iraola and Arteta are friends from the Basque country but could be the coaches contesting a title race this season (Getty) While his brand of football can seem more adventurous than Arteta’s, perhaps Iraola has borrowed from his old friend’s playbook. While Arsenal’s set-piece specialists had to wait until last Saturday’s win over Everton for their first goal from dead-ball situations this season, Liverpool, who kept conceding from corners in the first half of last season, have been frugal this year. “I think we have, touch wood, dealt very well with defending set-pieces so far this season,” said Iraola, who credits his assistants Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper for their training-ground work. “But it [Arsenal] is probably the biggest challenge.” Even the composition of Iraola’s back four appears influenced by Arteta. The Arsenal manager has a fondness for deploying centre-backs as full-backs; as, indeed, did Pep Guardiola at the end of his reign at Manchester City. A transformative moment in Liverpool’s season came when Iraola dropped the erratic Jeremie Frimpong for Ronald Araujo, a central defender by trade. Araujo is developing cult-hero status as a makeshift right-back in Liverpool’s defence (Getty) “It definitely helps having a centre-back at right-back when we talk about defending set-pieces,” said Iraola. “It helps a bit with the height and the physicality of the team.” Since Araujo’s introduction, at Ipswich in September, Liverpool have only conceded one league goal with 11 men on the pitch, albeit augmented by three after Ryan Gravenberch’s red card against City and a trio in each of their last two European matches. “We are defending really well lately but still we have some situations where we need to improve,” said Iraola. That is a recurring theme in his rhetoric. He can seem a project manager, his side forever a work in progress seeking further improvement. Liverpool, with plenty of youth in their team , with a side shorn of the title winners Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate, have an annual aim of Champions League qualification. They might not have pencilled in a title challenge for this season. It took Arteta six-and-a-half years to make Arsenal champions . Few thought Iraola would do it in a year at Anfield. He certainly does not seem to be considering the possibility. “It is still too early to take big conclusions,” Iraola insisted. Win or lose on Sunday, however, and others will draw them.