Liverpool v Arsenal Preview

Article by Dean Carr of Sbat.com.

Liverpool’s clash with Arsenal at Anfield on Wednesday night could prove to be pivotal in the context of the Reds season, with Jurgen Klopp’s men in desperate need of a result to maintain their top four challenge. With the defensive injury crisis continuing to deepen at Anfield, it’s unknown what sort of side Klopp will be left to select in midweek.

With Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren, Mamadou Sakho and Kolo Toure all unlikely to feature during the visit of Arsene Wenger’s men, it is likely again to be a makeshift back four for Klopp to work with. Tiago Ilori will have been likely to have featured against Arsenal, but he failed to come through the 90 minutes with Exeter and may miss out again, with Lucas likely to fill in at the heart of defence.

The performance of the side against Exeter on Friday evening  is unlikely to have filled many fans with too much confidence about the capacity of some of the young players to cope at Premier League level, but they did ultimately manage to get the Reds into the pot for the next round of the competition.

The uncertainty surrounding the future of Christian Benteke is quite remarkable since he has only been at the club for six months, but yet another unconvincing performance in the FA Cup as captain is unlikely to have done much to settle talk of Klopp axing the striker. Benteke has scored seven goals in twenty-one appearances so far, giving him an average of one in three so far, but it looks as if his teammates are struggling to adapt to him, as much as he is to the team’s style of play.

However, the blame can’t lie solely with the big Belgian striker. His individual performances haven’t been great, but the team needs to start playing to his strengths and start giving him the service he used to thrive off during his time at Aston Villa.

Predicting the starting eleven for Arsenal may be just as difficult as in the Reds’ previous outing, with the aforementioned injury crisis resulting in a possible twelve first-team players to miss out through injury.

Daniel Sturridge is again unlikely to feature for Liverpool, with recent reports suggesting that Klopp would be open to sell the club’s star striker for £25m if another club can cough up a fee in that region. Despite an impressive record of 44 goals in 72 appearances during his three years at Anfield, his inability to maintain a consistent level of fitness could be enough for the German boss to call time on his career on Merseyside, who appears to be growing increasingly frustrated with the 26-year-old being unavailable.

Liverpool don’t have the greatest recent record against Arsenal in recent years, winning just once in their previous eight meetings, although that victory was the famous 5-1 win at Anfield two seasons ago, as Brendan Rodgers’ side raced into a 4-0 win in the opening twenty minutes. A similar fast-paced start wouldn’t go amiss in this one, with the style of the Gunners likely to suit the home side.

Arsene Wenger’s team are renowned for their ball possession, with Liverpool’s greatest threat coming in the form of the counter attack.

Klopp will more than likely use Brazilian Lucas as a central defender to compensate for the lack of defensive options available to him, but there must be a temptation for the manager to deploy him in his natural holding midfield role in order to try and cope with the threat of Mesut Ozil, and man mark the German international. With Ozil the in-form man in the Premier League this season, he will undoubtedly provide the Gunners biggest attacking threat, with Lucas previously performing a similar role against Yaya Toure under Kenny Dalglish with great success.

With Manchester United to follow on Sunday, it’s a pivotal week for the team, which has arguably come at the worst possible time given the current state of the squad. But Klopp isn’t one to sit around and feel sorry for himself and will make sure his side will be fired up for the clash.

The role of the fans will be vital for Liverpool, with the atmosphere at Anfield needing to be at it’s very best to lift the depleted squad.

There remains the opportunity for Klopp’s men to potentially close the gap on the top four to just three points if results go their way in midweek, and that is likely to be a huge motivating factor for the team in this outing. Check out the rest of our Premier League predictions and tips here.