Lee: Beware wounded animal

Liverpool head to the Emirates Stadium tonight with a warning from Sammy Lee to beware a wounded Arsenal side.

Arsene Wenger's men have lost their last two games to Manchester United and Chelsea, but the Reds assistant manager believes the Gunners are now at their most dangerous.

"This is a massive test for us," Lee told Liverpoolfc.tv.

"They are a quality team, a great footballing side. Everyone is having a go at them in the press and yet they had 70 per cent of possession against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Not many teams will do that so we are fully aware of their dangers, strengths and weaknesses.

"Don't let anybody get carried away by the mere fact they have lost their last two games. They will be hurting and they will be ready for us.

"We know they are a quality side. They are at home and play a great brand of football. We will be ready and we have to make sure every one of our players is on song at the Emirates.

"This football club never gets carried away and we know there is a long way to go until the end of the season. We know Arsenal will be a very difficult game.

"We have to keep our good run going and you are only as good as your next game."

Liverpool haven't won away at Arsenal since Titi Camara's winner at Highbury 10 years ago, and Lee added: "Stats sometimes don't tell you the whole story and we are fully aware of that, but at the end of the day we are looking forward and not looking back.

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"We know what Arsenal are about and we have got to make sure we capitalise on their weaknesses on Wednesday night."

The Reds go into tonight's game unbeaten in their last seven league games, having kept six clean sheets in the process.

"You can build a lot from clean sheets," added Lee.

"We always feel as though we can score at any given time during a game but it's important that we don't concede against a very strong Arsenal side who play good incisive football with intricate passing."

Rafael Benitez's side head into the clash on the back of a fantastic performance in the Merseyside derby, and Lee claims the team are in great spirits.

The assistant boss said: "We showed all the qualities you need in a derby. The fact we won when we played the best part of an hour with 10 men illustrated and highlighted the fact that this team is full of passion and commitment.

"This football club gets questioned on a daily basis, and rightly so because we are very high profile, but no one can say we lack commitment or passion as we showed that in abundance."

Lee cited one challenge in the early stages of the game from Jamie Carragher on Steven Pienaar that epitomised the display.

"It set the tone for our performance," he said.

"It was a fair and tough tackle by Jamie and it set the tone for all of us for the whole game.

"Everything about the weekend demonstrated the passion, desire and commitment of this squad of players.

"Javier Mascherano played right-back for an hour. He is a top-class footballer and the good thing about these lads is they can adapt. It's not his preferred position or natural position but everybody adapts for the good of the team."

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