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Official Arsenal team to face Liverpool – Laca and Auba start

Massive test for Arsenal this evening as they visit Anfield, home of the Premier League champions.

Liverpool will be rather motivated for this game having lost out to Arsenal the last two times these sides have met. Jurgen Klopp’s men will definitely be looking for revenge.

Arsenal will know what to expect, Mikel Arteta will have minds focussed I am sure and the Spaniard will have a game plan to combat Liverpool’s expected dominance of the ball.

Is this team from Mikel Arteta strong enough to withstand the Liverpool juggernaut and leave Anfield with something?

Leave us your comments below and maybe predict the score at the same time.

Links to streams will be put in the comments where to watch the game live and free so keep checking in.

Also, if you go to the official Arsenal website here you will be able to get live commentary text and radio.

JustArsenal predicted line up (for comparison) here

JustArsenal match preview here

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289 Comments

    1. Starts 👌 how confident are you today? We are up for the fight I could easily go for a 2-2 but how about we Nick it 2-3. And a hatrick of dances 🤗🤗🤗🤗

  3. I predict a two goal defeat, based entirely on unbiased thinking. Unlike many life long Gooners and fans at all clubs, I ALWAYS LEAVE MY PERSONAL FAN BIAS ASIDE WHEN MAKING PREDICTIONS.

  4. Fair enough line up.. All eyes on Elneny tonight.
    Smart move by Arteta, hoping our wingers and fullbacks create some chances for our strikers.
    Expecting to see us fight till the last minute.

    P.S-Aouar awaiting medicals, deal done.
    Partey’s negotiations slightly moving further now

        1. Not really sure that’s still on the cards though..Lazio already signed a CB back.. It could still happen though

      2. Still trying to find deals for Douzi, Torreira to Atletico is still being discussed… Sokratis to Napoli is off, Koulibaly is staying.
        Will only happen if Koulibaly leaves.
        Trying to find deals for Kolasinac too

            1. Oh sorry I didn’t into your hand by tweeting BS like Kolasinac is off to somewhere, Douzi to Villarreal is done, Sokartis will take the number 5 Jersey for Napoli.
              Sorry to disappoint you😂😂😂
              I only write what I’ve read, you can go force outgoing sales yourself

      1. You wanna bet?
        You people forget the media pick these stuff up late…
        How much you wanna stake on it? We’re getting Aouar

  5. Good line-up, because we need Xhaka’s and Elneny’s work rate to keep up with Henderson, Wijnaldum and Fabinho. Tierney and Maitland-Niles will surely nullify Salah and Alexander-Arnold, but I’m not sure about Holding and Bellerin

  7. Surprised Gabriel is not involved
    Once again, they’ll be playing from the back.

    MA trusts AMN so much that he can’t drop him in big games

    Am only surprised with Elneny coming in for Ceballos

    MA says if you work hard you play

    1. Obviously going with experience in this fixture. Strong bench and maybe that will give the starting 11 a positive mindset.

      Pepe cellabos gabriel Saka could be an issue for Klopp as the fame goes on and the score is in the balance..

      I think thou klopp will want to take advantage of the city loss.

      3-2 liverpool

  9. MA seems to find a way to win games despite many of usbnot agreeing with his line up….Gabriel should be starting this game..He’s a rock against set pieces at our end and can score with his end in Liverpool’s box…Still I trust the manager…
    COYG!

  10. Luiz and Leno. This will be a nervy evening
    The difference between our last two teams that triumphed over Liverpool is the absence of Martinez i hope that will not be decisive. Let’s go boiz

    2. I thought about this and how much more confident I would have been with martinez still here and in the lineup. Here’s to hoping Leno has a great game for us. COYG

  12. At least Leeds made a go of it … even with no attacking midfield option with this line up we will be overwhelmed in midfield and vulnerable at back … if we keep it down to a 2 goal difference It will be a good result but it’s a sad reflection on state of our footballing ability

  16. Very cowardice and s***t tactics again there.

    Very very predictable and disappointing from Arteta. Just joking around every time.

    Surely 3-0 to Liverpool.

    2. Lol…someone is hurt the name Ozil isn’t even close to the bench. We don’t need fans like you spreading negative vibes on here.
      Hold on to your high horse, Ozil won’t be playing for a couple more weeks.
      You’ll need tissues for your tears.
      I don’t even know why I bothered replying your comment.
      I’ll pass by your negative self next time😁😁👍

        1. I think in one of the articles few days ago, he was attacking Arteta for not playing Ozil against Leicester… Or was he not the one??😂😂

          1. Oh yeah yeah it’s Kolasinac.😂😂
            Like I said I wasn’t sure, probably mad today because Kolasinac returned to the bench😂😂

    1. Regardless of how the game pans out,I think Arteta has made the correct selection for arguably the toughest away game of the League campaign.Elneny is better defensively than Ceballos, and will be needed to help Holding to avoid one on one situations against the dangerous Mane.If we can emerge with a point tonight I will be satisfied.

  18. I think going for Elneny over Ceballos Arteta is thinking more defensive for this game.
    Liverpool won’t park the bus and will come at us leaving space to counter.
    Only slight concerns I have is Bellerin and Luiz. Bellerin will have a hard time coping with Alexander-Arnold’s pace. I can see Bellerin lunging in at him and giving away free kicks. I would of liked to of seen Maitland-Niles at RB (Saka on the left wing) but saying that playing at RB is Bellerin’s position and his job.
    I guess Arteta has chosen experience with Luiz over Gabriel. I hope we see a level headed Luiz instead of the reckless tackles because of his lack of pace.

    1. Bellerin and Holding will face Robertson and Mane, not Alexander-Arnold

      Luiz made some bad decisions, but his tactical awareness is still top notch. I believe he could be great Arsenal manager in the future, as long as he doesn’t hate us

  19. poor team selection,call a spade a spade and not a big spoon .Arteta hope you bring your subs early,this is playing safe William who? Elneny who? This lineup is cowardly we can field a better team than this,alot to learn to for our young manager and I back him.

    1. I think you mean Willian. William is the Duke of Cambridge and is probably at home having tea and biscuits and watching the Villa game.

  21. Comrades, Leicester, Wolves, Leeds and all the f****n small teams play their BEST 11 regardless of the opposition,,,,,,

    And here we are. Playing small team tactics.

    Keep dreaming that we can win. NEVER

        1. Leno
          Bellerin…. Luiz… Gabriel… Tierney
          Ceballos… Xhaka
          Pepe…Willian… Aubameyang
          Lacazette

          That’s the kind of lineup BIG teams put in.

          Don’t expect miracles

  25. So an elbow in 2 minutes in and it’s a yellow card. Only for Liverpool of course lmaooo. Our players would NEVER get away with that.

    1. We play with just 2 CM which makes our Midfield very much lightweight…..
      And we loose battle in Midfield….
      That’s why MA might want one Midfielder..

  43. When average player Naby Keita Makes such runs box from midfield, then you can sure that you want player like Viera, Keane, Cazorla type midfielder….

  44. Why are we playing David Luiz?
    Defending has been our problem for so long and it will continue to be our problem if we don’t play the new players we bought to deal with this problem!
    Man U have the same problem with Lindelof and if they continue to play him (Please do) they will continue to lose points because he is a liability like Luiz Mustafi socratis. (Great guys I’m sure)
    Why can we all see this but the managers cannot?

    1. We don’t have a midfield whatsoever. The gap between the two teams is hugeee. Even if we won this game we are still miles away from Liverpool.

  54. You cannot play against an attacking team like pool conceding 80 per cent of play and hope to get much out of the game … But while amn has been decent there is simply no midfield and attackers are impotent … this is not the charity shield and they ain’t in as charitable a mood … at least since the first goal

  56. The way Jim Belgin Describing quality gap between Arsenal and Liverpool is such painful to listen…
    At times we had Viera, Fabregas, Cazorla
    So frustrating..

  57. Where is our midfield????? No playmaking. Where is Saka???? Where is Pepe??? Where is Ceballos??? This is ludicrous!!! We’re playing to lose. The passing is DREADFUL

      2. We are getting battered and he picks on one player. Fact is there is a huge gap in class between the two teams.

  61. Absolutely disastrous midfield. We have modified that can not hold on to ball for 2sec, no one has the ability to grab the ball and control the flow of game from our side. Auba’s lac of ball holding, bringing others into play and to be part of a move is exposed again. We are going to loose this one for sure if MA does not change tactics. You can not absord so much pressure and play without the ball. I hope we don’t ship 4-5 goals.

    1. True but bro do you think MA has that much fire power to change the tactics and get something from this game??
      No

  62. I’m not at all bothered by the
    probable result. I predicted a
    3-1 Pool victory.

    WTS, if this first half midfield
    performance isnt a transparent
    justification to sign both TP and
    HA then Atsenal will once again
    languish in the Europa league
    come season end

    1. That is right … if xhaka is our go to midfielder we will struggle to get in to top 6 … the worst footballer in an arsenal shirt for decades … interesting that the Ozil haters seem to like this guy

  63. Midfield is the clear problem. Nobody technical enough to move the ball further forward. Everything just falls apart once we get even a little higher up the pitch. Get Ceballos on, revert back to a 343. Elneny has no purpose in this game.

  64. I have been pointing it out for ages that this team lacks midfield general a proper midfield player like Santi. We failed to replace Santi and that was our biggest mistake. Even the best defence in world and best DM can not help you if you can not play with the ball.

  65. Bellerin needs to do more in the second half, I don’t know why we sell Martinez, what exactly was Leno trying to do there, how can a professional keeper push ball like that 🤔

    1. Yup, sold our better GK. Really dont care if people say it was only 9-10 games. Havent had a GK that made our defense feel so secure as he has in well over a decade, someone tell me I’m wrong? Sorry but Salah’ shot for the first goal was not that great and a bigger guy couldve hit that our further.

  66. We were gonna lose eventually. They’re the defending champions for a reason.
    They only lost to us twice in games that didn’t matter to them.

    1. It’s the way we are losing that is distressing … not least because as Leeds showed this is a defence that can be got at

  67. Only 1 shot on goal in the 1st half. No corners and 31% of the possession.
    Arteta needs to change it up in the 2nd half.

  68. Its alright, the gap between arsenal players quality to that of pool’s is Atlantic ocean big. Anything less than a 5 goal defeat is expected

  69. Arsenal were scared after the first ten minutes and it showed. Tierney didn’t play well in the first half

    Arteta has to boost his players confidence, otherwise Liverpool would still be in control and could widen the score gap

  70. This is a hard watch.. are we down to 8 men? Midfield is bang average, can’t keep the ball, can’t play with the ball! Leeds were much much better than this! Gabriel should be playing, I don’t trust that backline.. and in fairness Mane should have been off.. have they changed the rules to elbowing warrants on yellow? If that was an Arsenal player he was off and that’s a fact.

  71. We can’t run our lucks everytime because there is no quality in our team compared to liverpool especially in midfield. I don’t see elneny and xhaka in starting eleven(not even on bench) of any of the top 8 team

  72. A good wake up call and reality check for all the people who were saying we can win League, if lescester can do it so can we. Who branded our signing of Willian as master stroke and world beater. Even with Partey and Aouar will not make us world beater but will push us into top 4. But I reckon if we keep going in next few seasons that quality gap will disappear as our talented youngsters will mature.

    1. People who said we could win the league were talking 1 in 4 or 1 in 8 optimistic not the 20/1+ we were quoted. No one thought we were above liv/city. Remind me how many points have city/chelsea/united/spurs dropped? And against who?

  73. MA tactics very poor and fearful…Elneny not good enough Xhaka giving possession away for non reason how does he pick midfield that cannot hold possession or track runners . Amn poor and leaving Tesco exposed… No defence can compensate for such a poor midfield. Absolutely no service to the front 3

  74. We need to go for it now, loose 2-1 or 4-1 is same you loose 3 points but let’s try and put them to sort. Bring the offensive players out.

    1. Pepe is hardly a threat when we’re not with the ball.
      Selecting Willian is sensible because of his work rate and threat, but then again the midfield is struggling to hold the ball so our attackers are starved.
      There’s nothing Xhaka can do in this game because we’re not holding the ball

  76. Maybe the fans backlash on the tweet Auba liked is getting to Auba a little bit today. He’s not pressing like he used to. Only Laca seems to be really pressing. This Liverpool defence has a mistake or two in them, I expected Auba and Willian to capitalise on those. Look at the way Liverpool do not even give us a chance to pass from the back. Hopefully we can come back

    1. I agree about the Liverpool defense, but we cannot even get the ball into their third. It’s ELneny who is just a low quality player, and AMN who isn’t technical enough to beat the press like we need him to. We need to take the game more to Liverpool 2nd half even if that leaves us more open.

  77. I have said it before and I think we can develop Saka in Santi type player. He has the quality, skill, temperament and maturity to play that role. Just needs to gain more experience and learn more which he will if we give him the chance. If it was me I would build the team around Saka and Martenelli.

  80. We talk about Midfield can’t hold the ball however we provide such dangerous passes in midfield while playing from back…

  84. I think only aubameyang is moving the ball forward rest of them just stand and pass there is no movement with the ball they are all passing the ball backward

        1. They weren’t offside. Both chances were onside. Lacazette cost us this game. Auba didn’t press hard enough too. Bad day at the office for our forwards today. Unto the next one COYG. Anyone still has doubts about ceballos? Brilliant sub by Arteta

  87. Even leeds played better then this useless display. Why play so defensive when you know that it is not going to get you any result at Enfiled. I think MA is stunned and klopp has worked him out. Should have seen the Leeds Vs Liverpool match before travelling to this game. Xhaka is our AM..hahaha

  90. I won’t be surprised if VVD goes through 3-4 players and scores a Messi like goal…that’s how bad we are.

  91. Ozziegunner who always tells me Lacazette offers something to this team, have been saying it from day one that Lacazette is such an average player.

  95. Classic Laca. This is why he gets criticized. Say I’m harsh and say he already scored today, but ruthless teams put those away. This is why we drop points.

              1. 😂😂😂 I thought Willian was having a bad game till pepe entered and showed us Willian was actually better off staying on the pitch. Should have been saka

                1. I can’t stop laughing at that comment!! 😂
                  I think this is as good as it gets with Pepe… no more of the ‘give him time’ excuses… we need to accept that we’ve flushed 72m down the khazi!!!

      2. I’ll stick with him for one more season but really hope we either integrate Martinelli into CF position, or go for an actual forward that doesnt consistently bottle it. It matters in big games so much! Can’t be doing that in big European matches for SURE!

  100. We did not play well in first two games either we just had luck and some individual brilliance. I am struggling with what MA is trying to achieve in this game.

    2. Dude the team is trying here, why are you not attacking Lacazette who just wasted two clear cut chances?
      Anything to attack the manager though.
      The second half seems different so far. We’re playing forward and not sitting back

      2. No Eddie you are wrong, we lost the match because of poor tactics by MA in this match, he tried to do the same what we did in last two meetings but Klopp has found him out. Playing poor all match and just saying we could have had the match if Lacs would have scored is not justified. If you place the same argument from Liverpool side then we should be 5-6 goals down. Stop defending MA when he fails he is not invisible. I support him but this is a lesson for MA as well. He has made mistakes and he needs to learn from them.

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