Arsene Wenger has conceded that he may have been wrong to play Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in Arsenal's 4-0 Anfield aberration earlier this season.
The England midfielder started for the Gunners in the thrashing on Merseyside, playing 62 minutes just days before making a £35million switch to the Reds.
Wenger elected to start Oxlade Chamberlain as wing-back, while leaving new signings Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac on the bench.
Liverpool ran riot with Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Daniel Sturridge all got on the scoresheet for the hosts.
Petr Cech recently described the loss as "one of the worst experiences" of his career
Oxlade-Chamberlain makes his first return to the Emirates since then this weekend, having impressed in recent weeks under Jurgen Klopp.
Wenger continues to rate a player whose development had plateaued in north London, but admits that perhaps he made key mistakes at Anfield in August.
"It would be not fair to put the defeat at Liverpool, where the whole team had a bad performance, on one player," he said when asked if he regretted selecting Oxlade-Chamberlain.
"After that, on the other side, you analyse 'did you make mistakes or not?' You cannot go home and say everything was perfect when you lose like we did.
"I rate Alex highly and he knows that. After that, you want all the players to be respected who have played for us."
The Gunners will be without both Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey for the Friday night fixture.