It could be now or never for Arteta - Rooney

Mikel Arteta has been Arsenal manager since December 2019

Wayne Rooney says this season could be "now or never" for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and he will be "expected" to win silverware.

Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool on Sunday as Dominik Szoboszlai scored a stunning free-kick.

When asked on The Wayne Rooney Show if he thought it was now or never for Arsenal, Rooney said: "Maybe not for Arsenal, but I think for Arteta, possibly.

"I think theyve allowed him to bring a lot of players in, spend a lot of money. I imagine the board and certainly the fans will be expecting him to win the league. So I think it could be a big year for him."

But the former England and Manchester United forward thinks Liverpool remain the favourites to win the Premier league this season.

"[Liverpool] are a very good team," Rooney said. "Theyve got the know-how and the knowledge of winning the league twice over the last few years. Its a sign of a good team when youre winning games."

Rooney added that he thought Arsenal should have shown more bravery at Anfield rather than setting up for games "to not lose them".

"If they were just a little bit braver and went and actually took the game a bit more to Liverpool, I think they can go and win that," he said.

"I think thats a real chance missed for Arsenal today. But then I think Liverpool have done what champions do - they stayed in the game."

The former England captain was speaking on his new podcast, The Wayne Rooney Show, which airs twice weekly on BBC Sounds, YouTube and iPlayer.

Liverpool-born Rooney, who began his career at Everton, said he "hated" going to Anfield when he played for Manchester United as "the thought of losing the game was just horrible".

"Obviously youre thinking if you win, how good its going to feel. And the same when we played Chelsea in the Champions League final - you win it, the feeling you get is incredible. But the thought of losing, at Anfield, emotionally it just got to me quite a lot of times," he said.

Rooney added that winning against Liverpool was always "such a good feeling".

"I was an Everton fan, didnt like Liverpool from that. Then I went to United, didnt like Liverpool from that. So beating Liverpool was such a good feeling," he said.

"I think we could have got them in the [2008] Champions League final. It was Liverpool-Chelsea in the semi-final, so I was so glad it wasnt Liverpool in the final. Liverpool in the Champions League final would have been too much, I think, for me."

Rooney remembers his Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson telling him he would not play him at Goodison Park or Anfield.

"Alex Ferguson said many times hes not playing me at Goodison or Anfield. He could see it in me. He knew, emotionally, going back to those two grounds - especially Anfield - was tough for me."

Watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport YouTube, external, and iPlayer. Listen on BBC Sounds.