Arsène Wenger: It is too soon to judge new Arsenal strike force

 

Arsène Wenger is not worried about the criticism Arsenal face for their uninspiring start to the season. They have drawn 0-0 in their first two games but Wenger pointed to the early pessimism of last season to warn against hurried judgement.

"You never expect much from us," Wenger said, ahead of tomorrow's game at Liverpool. "We always have a potential to surprise. If I listened to the predictions last year on exactly the same day, we were predicted to finish 10th to 15th, and we finished third."

Wenger did admit to frustration at the team's failure to score so far, as they attempt to integrate new attacking players Santi Cazorla, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud into the team. "We are used to scoring goals, so we cannot say it is not a concern when we don't score," he said.

"On the other hand, we know we can score. We have also not conceded, so 50 per cent is alright and 50 per cent we want to improve."

Liverpool have recently signed Turkey midfielder Nuri Sahin on loan from Real Madrid, after serious interest from Arsenal.

Wenger believes that Sahin can make an impact at Anfield and said that he was not disappointed because he is not sufficiently different from the kind of players already in the Arsenal squad.

"Sahin is a similar type to [Jack] Wilshere," Wenger said. "Left-footed, [in the] build-up in the game very strong. We have a very similar type of profile.

"I believe that this game is a big test for us. We have played against two teams who restricted us to few chances, they defended very well, but they didn't try to give us too many offensive problems. That is why Liverpool is a good test, because it is a team who will defend well and attack well."

Centre-back Laurent Koscielny is fit again for Arsenal after missing the draws with Sunderland and Stoke City while goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who also missed the Stoke game, will have a late fitness test today.

3 Arsenal last failed to score in their opening three league games in 1953-54. Having won the title the previous year, they ended 12th.

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