It does not take a football genius to work out where the main danger lies for Arsenal when we travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool. With Luis Suarez gone, Daniel Sturridge injured and Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli….well let’s be kind and say not very good, the stand out threat is young Raheem Sterling.
Brendan Rodgers has now taken to using the dynamic young player as his central striker, although in more of a false nine or `Messi` role. He looked a bit lost there last weekend against Man United and missed their best chances of the game, but two goals against Bournemouth will have the confidence flowing and the Gunners must find a way to nullify the threat he poses.
It would be great to have Koscielny available because pace is a big part of Sterling’s game, but whoever plays, probably Chambers, will have to be careful not to let the sluggish Per Mertesacker get left in a race with him. At least Chambers, Debuchy and Gibbs have good pace so they can really help the German, as can Flamini and the Ox in front of the back four.
It might even be worth detailing one of the two to do a marking job on Sterling, because after him there is not too much to worry about in their attack. Of course, the best way for us to cope with Sterling is the old saying attack is the best means of defence.
Arsenal have more than one dangerous player and if Giroud, Welbeck, Alexis and Cazorla are on song, Sterling should be starved of chances and be more worried about helping his own defenders rather than tormenting ours. Do you think we need to woory and plan specifically for Sterling, or just play our normal game?