Press conference

Wenger - We've had a 'warning' ahead of Swansea

Liverpool's defeat to Swansea City will act as a "good warning" to us ahead of Tuesday's trip to Liberty Stadium, according to Arsene Wenger.

The Welsh club have been rejuvenated under new manager Carlos Carvalhal, and the boss is expecting another big test when we visit next week.

on heeding the fact Liverpool lost to Swansea...

When you don't win you are criticised and I think Liverpool tried and what is a good warning for us is that Liverpool are an attacking team - you cannot criticise them for not attacking, they are very dangerous going forward and they didn't manage to score against Swansea. That is a good warning for us that we have to produce absolute total offensive performance.

on whether it’s more difficult to face clubs like Swansea these days…

Yes, it makes it more difficult and I agree completely with you. When you anticipate the league you think as well that you have to make your ground up before April because in April you have a few teams. What we noticed last year is that some of the teams who battled to be safe, once they were safe they lost many games and so it was more difficult to make ground up after April because some teams, once they’re safe, they gave up and were a bit less focused and lost easy games. You could see scores of 4-0 after 20 minutes for example and so that’s why this period is vital for us.

on whether the fixture list is tougher…

It’s tougher because when you look at the results for what has changed compared to 10 years ago is that the teams are ready to fight for 90 minutes, they are ready to be organised for 90 minutes and there is no weak moments in their organisation. You see more and more teams with 30 per cent possession who win the game, it was not always the case like with Swansea against Liverpool and we see that more and more.