Arsène Wenger says Arsenal must not be distracted by Luis Suárez saga

The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, maintains his players must not become distracted about what Luis Suárez might do for Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Had things turned out differently this summer, then the controversial Uruguay forward could have been leading Arsenal's attack, rather than netting six in the five games since returning to action for Liverpool from a 10-match ban imposed after biting Branislav Ivanovic.

Wenger, though, insists his team should focus on producing the required response following their midweek Capital One Cup defeat by Chelsea as they look to stay top of the Premier League.

He said: "Suárez is doing very well, but what is important for me is the players that play for Arsenal, not those who could play for Arsenal. What is very important tomorrow is the players who play against Luis Suárez."

Wenger continued: "I think our target is to have the ball and master the situation because we are dominating and we have more of the ball than our opponents – and if we have the ball a lot we do not need to worry too much about our opponents and that will be the target tomorrow."

Arsenal had a £40,000,001 bid for Liverpool's Luis Suárez turned down this summer. Photograph: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

There had been some discontent among Arsenal fans at the thought of signing a player who also served a ban for racially abusing the Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in October 2011. Wenger, though, would have had no issues had the transfer been completed, with Liverpool rejecting a £40,000,001 offer which was expected to have triggered a supposed get-out clause.

"The player has been punished for what he did," Wenger said. "We have high moral grounds. We take information about the moral level of the player and when there is any moral restriction we do not buy the player."

Arsenal will have the midfielder Mikel Arteta back from suspension after his red card against Crystal Palace. Mathieu Flamini, who has impressed in midfield since his return to the club, remains sidelined with his groin problem as does Serge Gnabry (ankle), while Theo Walcott is still recovering from minor abdominal surgery. Wenger maintains his squad are determined to show their title aspirations are not unfounded with an impressive display against Liverpool.

"The mood is very strong, very united and very focused. We know where the priorities are, it is in the Premier League and the Champions League," he said. "We are in a strong position in the Premier League, that is why our mood is positive. We want to be and I think we are title contenders, and Liverpool as well. You have four other teams certainly, or five, who will be title contenders this year.

"It is a big game for us, massively important, but I don't worry about where the teams are [in the table]. Between the team who is 14th and the team who is eighth, there are two or three points. At the moment, the table has no real significance."