Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has confessed that his side could still be suffering a hangover from their thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich a fortnight ago.
The Gunners succumbed to another heavy loss at the Allianz Arena, losing 5-1 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie to see their hopes of progression effectively end.
Arsenal have had just one match since then to get the result out of their system, a straightforward 2-0 win against non-league Sutton United in the FA Cup, but Wenger is hoping that focus will be restored by the time his men face Liverpool on Saturday evening.
"When you have a bad result like that, of course it plays on your mind," he told the club's website. "But I just think you have to focus on the way we want to play and on the desire to win, to fight and to take the opportunity you have to show your quality.
"After that, the recent history being negative, that doesn't help. But you have to be strong enough to deal with that. Things can change very quickly at the end of the season with many big teams playing against each other.
"It is very difficult to predict how many points will be needed [for a top-two finish] at the moment. We are in the mode now where we want to win our next game."
Arsenal, who have collected three points from the last nine on offer, trail leaders Chelsea by 13 points at the Premier League summit.
Daniel Lewis
