Arsenal! What a team! And what a way for Arteta to return them to the top! For the past few years, if you were to name the top two PL teams, you’d probably name Manchester City and Liverpool.
Arsenal seem to have replaced Liverpool among the two top teams in the Premier League.
We all know Arsenal are going to face Liverpool this weekend at Anfield. This game comes at a time when things have truly changed. While Arsenal has won seven consecutive league games, Liverpool has not won in eight (all competitions).
They’re so superior that Ray Parlour believes that on a team with the likes of Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, and Trent Alexander Arnold, only two Reds would enter Arteta’s lineup. Virgil Van Dijk and Mo Salah are these two.
“Looking at current form, [the defence] has to be all Arsenal, except for Virgil van Dijk,” Parlour told NetBet as quoted by Football 365.
“I know he isn’t playing great, but you would get him in alongside Gabriel, no disrespect to Rob Holding, and with William Saliba currently out injured. You would also still have to find a spot for Mohamed Salah, but you can’t leave Bukayo Saka out, and Gabriel Martinelli is playing well, so it is an awkward one.
“But with Gabriel Jesus having recently come back from injury, I would put Salah up front over the Brazilian. You’ve got to get Salah in there somehow—he could play as a false number nine up front with Saka and Martinelli on the wings—as Jesus has only just come back.
“Liverpool don’t get many spaces. You’ve got Aaron Ramsdale in goal; I am happy with Ben White at right-back; he’s a good defender and has done so well this season, and at left-back, Oleksandr Zinchenko has been brilliant. I love Andy Robertson; he’s a good player, but Zinchenko has been one of Arsenal’s best players in recent weeks.
“I’d certainly rather have White and Zinchenko over Trent Alexander, Arnold, and Robertson.
“And in midfield, Thomas Partey has been excellent, and you can’t leave Martin Odegaard out the way he’s been playing. Nobody from Liverpool’s midfield gets in. Partey, Granit Xhaka, and Odegaard, as a three, they work so well together, and I can’t see how the likes of Jordan Henderson or Fabinho get in the way they are playing.”
How rewarding is it to note that players Gooners would have died to have in their squad are at the moment not even able to bench some of the players in the club who Arteta has elevated?
Arteta’s work at Arsenal speaks for itself, doesn’t it?
From what little I’ve seen of them, Gabriel has been far better than van dijk this season.
They’ve still got great players – they haven’t played well as a team but as the utd game showed, if you let them build up some confidence, they can still be extremely dangerous. We need to keep them and the crowd quiet, and I think it’s in our hands to do so. It’s all about how we handle the pressure – if we play our normal game, we will be fine, but if the occasion gets to us, Liverpool could take over…