Even if Liverpool are in a bad place and are winless in eight games, they are not to be taken lightly and could be bad news to Arsenal if underrated. Against The Reds, One position where the Gunners will need to be at their best is on defence.
Arsenal’s defence is capable, but there are doubts about its strength without William Saliba, who has missed the last few games after picking up an injury when Sporting Lisbon eliminated them from the Europa League.
Saliba has been the real deal in Arsenal’s defence, and the way he makes it block solid alongside Gabriel Magalhaes cannot be overlooked. Meanwhile, Rob Holding has been filling in for Saliba. He has been decent; after the Leeds 4-1 win, Just Arsenal‘s Peter Doherty rated his performance a 7.5 over 10. Doherty argues, “The trepidation that followed the news that Saliba was injured was justified, but Holding has been superb since stepping into the Frenchman’s role. Showed great authority when stepping forward to claim some long balls from Leeds and demonstrated composure throughout.”
🗞️| “William Saliba is a serious doubt to face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday. Saliba has not yet returned to training and faces an uphill battle to be back in time to face Liverpool. Arsenal will make a final decision on Saliba closer to Sunday’s game, but Rob Holding is in line… pic.twitter.com/lo4pCBAImQ
— Arsenal Buzz (@ArsenalBuzzCom) April 5, 2023
Mikel Arteta already hinted we can trust Holding earlier this season when he said, “Rob in particular has been exceptional.
“He’s always there the way he trains. When you need him for 15 or 20 minutes to close a game, he’s always been there and available.”
Holding is unlikely to be a player Arteta will want to offload in the summer. So I guess if Saliba is still unavailable against Liverpool, we should trust Holding to do well. If Arteta is happy, so am I.
Darren N
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Our defense will be required to stay switch on Tierney has to start at left back, Jorginho has to play slightly ahead of Partey to help beat the press.
I would start both Jesus and Tossard in this one.
Something tells me Martinelli, could be introduced after 70 minutes to run at them.
Thank goodness you’re not the coach.
We are going to need a double pivot with Partey and Jorginho in front of a back four which should contain Ben White, Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhaes, Teinrny
But we could play Jorginho slightly ahead in that double pivot.
Our front three would be Tossard, Jesus and Saka with one space left.
Not a cat in hells chance!!! I dont see Martinelli not starting, i dont see Tierney starting and for the record, i dont see Trossard starting. Arteta will never leave Zinchenko out, unless he has a problem.
Reggie all the uncertainty is around our defense as pointed out by fans and pundits alike.
Now the gaffer may not like Tierney but what we do know is that he wants atleast a result from this fixture.
He has used Tomi in the past to very good effect against Sala, so he has been very meticulous with his defending against Sala, so it stands to reason Zinchenko has no chance at left back,
But that would be a huge call leaving out your most informed player ( Tossard) from starting at the dreaded Anfield.
A place where pundit Paul Merson refuses to call
Remember the gaffer is clever and seems to get even hungrier by the scents of the big jug, I just cant seing him making such a mistake with the stakes this high
Yeah…There is no way in hell Tierney starts. Zinchenko offers 10 times what Tierney does in terms of what he helps us do. There is also no way in hell Xhaka doesn’t start. We’re top of the league man, Arteta cannot suddenly decide to play a completely new style after we have bossed the league playing the way we have. If we play our game, keep 60% possession like we have, we will win this game. The best way to negate players like Nunez, Gakpo, and Salah, is to not let them play. And the only way to do that, is to not let them have the ball.
football is not for you man.
Lol! Tim…care to elaborate? You make a couple comments without any reasons. Not saying your comments are wrong, but these forums run better when people actually contribute.
Is there no place for Xhaka, or are you resting Odegaard?
Start Jorginho? Someone far slower and lacking in physical presence than even Xhaka. No chance in hell that happening.
After all said, I the team should just play the way they’ve played all season. The only extra thing is that, they should be more disciplined defensively.
No martineli has to start n press dem bt I think arteta shud warn ordgard nt to lose de ball so easily n shud utilise any given chance his performance is vital in tis game
I actually agree with the fact that Trossard should start.also introducing Martinelli when opponents start to get tired,his energy,directness..could do some damages.
I’m scared Holding may see red in this one, he can fly into tackles sometimes unnecessarily. I hope Saliba is fit
Im sorry just dont like the idea of holding as a cd it just brings back memory of last season collaspse in the game against spurs with his atrocious play ,when we lost the game and he got red carded
I understand your concern as it was so rash
As Grandad has pointed out below, others have made mistakes and they are first team players.
Should we let recent history allow us to believe that Liverpool will march all over us? Or have faith that our team who have nearly 30 points more than them can get the points on Sunday?
We as supporters will, no doubt, be nervous of the former but our current form suggests a better chance of succeeding this time around
Well reasoned perspectives. It is understandable that some fans are pessimistic given our recent history but this is a different season.
Thank you.
All people can point out is our game against Spurs but i don’t see anybody pointing to Partey, Gab6, ode and White mistakes last season.
Holding didn’t play our decider game against Newcastle and yet we collapse and play terribly.
keep focusing on the Spurs game as if none of the defenders doesn’t have a bad patch.
We have a bad run towards the end of last season and Gab6 was so terrible during those period but i don’t see anybody pointing that out.
Holding has played more than 5 games this season and all you can point to is last season?
No holding can play he has enough experience n spurs game he played at rite back n son is faster than him so he cud easily make mistake
Frank, I can recall numerous errors made by Gabriel and Saliba this season yet you bring up an event which took place some time ago?
Exactly what am saying.
The way some people think…