Arsenal vs Liverpool Match Preview
The thoughts of Vinolin Naidoo ahead of the weekend’s best Premier League game at the Emirates Stadium, where Liverpool will be hosted by Arsenal. A fine fixture to kick-off the festive season.
Match Preview
The Premier League is halfway through the season and teams now play the reverse fixtures in the second half of the campaign. First up, Liverpool head to the Emirates Stadium on Friday night looking to keep their 11-game unbeaten run going. This match is the first of a hectic period for both clubs. The Reds are currently above the Gunners in the table and will be hoping to add more distance between both teams with a win. Arsenal played a midweek game against West Ham in the Carabao Cup but with a fringe side. Majority of their first team are fresh for this encounter.
Last Meeting: Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal (27 August 2017)
The corresponding fixture this season at Anfield resulted in a 4-0 win for the Reds. Goals from Roberto Firmino, Sadio, Mane, Mo Salah and Daniel Sturridge ensured Liverpool took all three points. Recent encounters between both clubs have seen some high scoring classics over the past few years. Last season Liverpool managed to do the double over the Gunners, with a 4-3 win at the Emirates on the opening day of the season and then a 3-1 win at Anfield in March 2017. Liverpool are undefeated against Arsenal in the league for the past 2 years.
Team and Injury News
Arsenal will be without the injured Oliver Giroud for this match. The striker injured his hamstring in the midweek cup win against the Hammers. Aaron Ramsey is still unavailable for the Gunners. Long-term absentee Santi Carzola remains just that.
Jurgen Klopp will most likely rotate his squad yet again for this game. Sadio Mané is expected to return to the starting line up on Friday. Daniel Sturridge (ill) and Joel Matip (match fitness) may not feature. Alberto Moreno and Nathaniel Clyne are both still out for the Reds.
Predicted Lineup
ARS (3-4-3): Cech, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Wilshere, Xhaka, Kolasinic, Bellerin, Ozil, Sanchez, Lacazette
LFC (4-3-3): Mignolet, Gomez, Lovren, Klavan, Robertson, Henderson, Coutinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mane, Firmino, Salah
Prediction
Arsenal 2 – 2 Liverpool. – This game looks like being another high scoring encounter between two teams who have very fluid attacks. However, both teams’ backlines are still shaky and thus both will open each other up time and time again during the encounter. A high scoring draw looks on the cards on Friday night.
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