Arsenal vs Liverpool Preview : Annihilate the S.A.S!

Resident Blogger : SimonSEEZ

Hello Gooners!!!

Top of the day to ya! And Top of the League we will still be by end of day with a victory at the Emirates against our visitors from Anfield. We have lost two of our last home games albeit in different competitions, one being the Pinnacle of European Football and the other the least of the English trophies. So third home game in a different competition and one in which the manager surely does prioritize this season hence the need to rest most of his big guns on Tuesday at the COC.

Speaking of playing in different competitions that is one problem our visitors haven’t had considering they are not in any European competition or competing in the league cup hence they are fresh for this encounter. Liverpool have played 11 games this season compared to our 16 already, 450 more minutes of football. Is it a coincidence that they are having such a good run in the only competition they are competing in thus far? As they have more recovery period and all the time to focus on their next league opponents? Need Proof? See Swansea, struggling a little this season as compared to their last and remember Newcastle were almost involved in relegation battles after having to play on weekends without fully recovering from their Spursday games.

Coming into this game Arsenal is in rich form in the league but the entire story has been about the Liverpool attack and how they are the modern day Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke. They seem a partnership made in heaven this early in the campaign and full credit to both players as they sure have scored some awesome goals this season.  They are somewhat opposite with regards to their affinity with the club, Sturridge needed love he wasn’t getting at Chelsea and he found it at Liverpool and is hence repaying them , Suarez has all the love from Liverpool irrespective of his misdemeanors and he wanted out.

The SAS

Is it possible to write about an Arsenal vs Liverpool game and not refer to the summer? When at some point the news wasn’t whether he was coming or not but rather a matter of when especially after his explosive interview. Lots have been written about that episode so I won’t go back there but I must commend Liverpool for standing their ground and holding on to their player, I am firm believer in contracts and their binding nature and all I see these days is players contracts not even worth the paper its signed on as once the player screams, the club is not willing to keep him any further. We have firsthand experience from Fabregas , Nasri and more recently RVP? Should we have sold them or held them to the word of their contract? Those are questions for Wengers book.

Potential banana skin tie and nothing short of a win here will soothe the fans. Everyone accepted the defeat against Dortmund as well, its Dortmund and we really didn’t feel overplayed, the Chelsea defeat was in a competition we knew the odds were against us but today no such excuses would be welcome. We have enjoyed the last few weeks but the shadow of having not played the big teams in the league was a constant reminder from some quarters and this is an opportunity to put that to rest.

Flamini is missing from this encounter and his effect will definitely be felt, the Frenchman considers himself the first line of defence and he sure fulfills that role. Arteta is eligible for this after serving his one match ban and Gnabry is still out injured.

It should be interesting to see how Wenger picks his squad as we know Liverpool play with a back three these days with their two fullbacks , Johnson and Jose Enrique more advanced making this a new test for Gibbs and Sagna, should they go forward and don’t recover early. Remember the Dortmund second goal?  Liverpool have Coutinho back and Gerrad would want to dominate midfield so we would need to show real discipline to curtail his effect. Would Ramsey need to curtail some of his attacking instincts to keep shape with Arteta and allow Ozil and Rosicky to influence our actions going forward? That question would be answered in a few hours. To get anything out of this game we must cut the supply line to the SAS from midfield and let Kos and BFG find it easier to annihilate them! Whatever we do Sturridge shouldnt score as I cant seeing him do that his dance like a rattle snake that has been injected with crystal methane.

Prediction

Tough encounter but we play at home and that should count in our advantage or would it? Considering lots that have been said about us not having any atmosphere at our ground.

Arsenal 2- Liverpool 1

Poll

[polldaddy poll=7528176]

Hopefully after winning this game we would get our spirit and momentum up as we would need it for the Dortmund encounter and sometimes you need a real test to prove to yourself you are as good as you think you are.

#COYG

Click on any of the links to beneath, I think the wordpress one is easiest to use to drop a comment or lets interact on twitter on @CanonCrested , like us on facebook www.facebook.com/canoncrested