Liverpool is a fantastic team but they are not unbeatable and while it may be a tall order to come away from Anfield with all three points next Saturday, it is not impossible.
Unai Emery is a top-class professional coach and will always know better than the likes of me and no doubt he and his team will be plotting ways to neuter the Reds.
But some things are fairly obvious even to us armchair fans with delusions of grandeur and if Arsenal is to beat Liverpool then there are some things they simply must do to give themselves a chance.
Stop Liverpool on the flanks
Probably a bit of a no brainer this one but if Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold are not stopped they will cause absolute havoc as they did all last season. Nacho Monreal and Ainsley Maitland-Niles will have to stand toe to toe with those two and not give an inch.
Play Liverpool at their own game
One way of stopping Robertson and Alexander-Arnold is to force them to defend, Monreal and Maitland-Niles with Pepe and probably Aubamayang in front of them have the capability to dominate down the flanks and the more they go at Liverpool out wide the less potential there is for the Reds to control the flanks.
Pressure van Dijk with pace
Virgil van Dijk is a world-class defender, one of the best in fact but he will not be able to cope with the pace of Aubameyang and Pepe if it comes to a battle of speed. Long balls, high balls and battling at close quarters will always give van Dijk the advantage but get a little space and run at him and the Arsenal forwards will get the upper hand, it really is as simple as that.
Midfield cannot be lost
Liverpool do not possess the best midfielders in the world but what they do have is players that put in efficient consistent performances and you can take it to the bank that the likes of Milner, Wijnaldum and Henderson or whoever they play in the centre of the park will put in performances that are a seven or eight and our midfielders must do the same, Torreira, Guendouzi, Ceballos, whoever Emery picks must be just as efficient and consistent if Arsenal are to have any chance of winning the game.
The defence cannot afford any mistakes
When you have Mane, Salah and Firmino coming at you and you make a mistake then it is all over, they will pounce and take advantage, it is what they have been doing for the last 12 months and Luiz, Sokratis and co have to be on top of their game, they cannot give those guys an inch, in fact, not even a millimetre, they are absolutely fearsome and prey on weakness and mistakes.
Get the ball to the forwards as quickly as possible
Mane, Salah and Firmino may be world-class and brilliant but in Pepe, Aubameyang and Lacazette Arsenal can match them but for them to be effective they have to see a lot of the ball and quickly. The Arsenal front three have the capability to cause chaos and if Arsenal is to come away from Anfield with all three points then it is the front three that will probably be the ones to deliver that win.
Seventh………………………poison the bastard pre-match meal !
haha, like that; Poisoning Coq… I will say to bring Koulibaly, Pogba and a left back.
Lasagne? ??
PARK THE BUS! ? Say a prayer before the game, during half time and at 85 minutes when it’s 0-0 ! COYG, this is our year, we gonna pull a fast one on Liverpool !
Parking the bus didn’t work well for Norwich and Soton
None of those teams packed their bus.
Even Norwich played more attacking than them
Klopp’s scheme is very obvious for the Gooners, let alone for Arsenal coaches. Liverpool always use two inverted wingers that play narrow to shoot and two attacking wingbacks that bombard their oppositions with crosses
Guardiola’s mezzala tactic would be perfect to combat Klopp’s strategy, because we can ask our fullbacks to stay behind and let the mezzalas to create the crosses instead. If Arsenal can make Ceballos/ Pepe and Xhaka/ Aubameyang work seamlessly on the wings, we could see non-stop crosses from our midfielders:
…………………… Leno
Maitland-Niles . Sokratis . Luiz . Monreal
…………………. Torreira
……….. Ceballos …………. Xhaka
…. Pepe …………………….. Aubameyang
…………………. Lacazette
Good lineup – however I would swap Xhaka with Guendouzi who has been great so far. Xhaka is slow and a liability so I don’t want to risk playing him.
Even a point against Pool away would be an amazing feat.
I think this is a great opportunity to start Pepe because neither Mkhitaryan or Nelson haven’t really performed with their starts.
Thanks
I predict Emery would keep Guendouzi and the other Gunners that won the Burnley game, unless some of them are unfit
No Xhaka at all costs. We need to win this thing. I’d start with Torreira instead of Xhaka.
That’s my team too
exactly this is line up that should play against Liverpool
exactly
ok why xhaka? why not Willock, abetter no. 8
Parking the bus didn’t work well for Norwich and Soton
Just learn how to deal with their high press and not lose the ball when playing out. Beware of the overlapping runs by their fullbacks too
That’s far easier said than done. Arsenal lose the ball even with less pressure on them. Don’t see us winning this game if we try to beat them in midfield. They will just wait for us to cheaply give the ball away and pounce on a counter.
U predicte something I want to see at arsenal now,arsenal now his in good position to beat any time but Head coach he has to thing how to line up the team !!!go arsenal gooooo we gonna beat Liverpool
in pepe,auba and laca we go crush them!!!
… Leno
Maitland-Niles . Sokratis . Luiz . Kolasinac
…………………. Torreira
……….. Ceballos …………. Xhaka
…. Pepe …………………….. Aubameyang
…………………. Lacazette
Two more points to add – keep Ozil, Xhaka, Mustafi far away from the bench and stop that “play from the back” nonsense, we will surely walk away with 1 point if not 3.
Not trying to be negative. I can’t handle another 5-1 defeat. Let’s keep the game close.
Leave zhaka a lone. Thats line up a bove is very excelence
That will be the best squad indeed if we are to win
1. Dont over play at the back, one or two passes then try to get the ball to the forwards. Lpools main strength is to get back the ball high up the pitch as possible and heard for goal.
2. We need an energetic and fluid midfield. Meaning I would Stick with Guendo / Willock and Ceballos drifting in. Play slow players like Xhaka and Mhki and they might be caught on the ball giving our defense extra pressure.
3. Play Luiz and Sockratis again at CB. We cant keep chopping and changing if we are to get a partnership going. Luiz should be encouraged to hit more range killer balls over the top for Auba and Lacca.
4. Start Pepe over Nelson. Its a no brainier really.
5. Play with a bit more confidence rather than being timid as seen in both first halfs of our games. We look too scared not to concede we made up trying to play it safe all the time. This just gives our opponent more confidence to run the game. Dont want to see Firminio doing the no-look ever again.
6. Represent the Arsenal jersey with dignity, hard work and soul. At times this is what some for us look for win or loose.
correct summary
I do not feel that going full out attack against the best counter attacking team in the WORLD will get us a point. We need to sit BACK, like borderline park the buss stuff then WE counterattack coz WE have the SPEEDIEST attackers in EPL with Pepe in there. Maybe 3 at the back, sure up midfielder, pray throughout the game, and pass to AUBA ?
must win game.pepe,auba and laca must score
I miss those days when I watch Liverpool v Arsenal games without feeling tensed. I just relax with a bottle of wine because I was confident We would win… Back then, the Team that scares me the most are Manchester united (Old Trafford) and then Chelsea (Stamford bridge)
Let’s hope we get something out of the game against Liverpool. A draw will be fine… A defeat (close one isn’t bad) but I dread a thumping against us..
Honestly I’d stay with Xhaka over Guendo…Never thought i’d say those words.
Simply because whilst Guendo isn’t playing terribly at the moment, he’s got a bad record in the air, and Arsenal need to be clearing long balls as opposed to playing from the back.
Two options:
-Continue playing from the back with Mane, Salah, Firmino closing you down (holy god no)
– Strap on Luiz’s big boy boots and get him playing in Nelson/Pepe/Aub/Laca all day long with Xhaka/Ceb controlling the air inbetween.
Liverpool will beg for a draw but they won’t get it on Saturday.
It’s quite unfortunate that Emery said something which seemed like he’s already thrown in the towel…what a bummer! Unless of course he’s indulging in mind games.
Liverpool was shown up by two teams in their last two games, which was when the attack was taken to them, their famed defence was making mistakes, so Emery will do well to field an all out attack forward line, comprising of Auba, Laca & Pepe backed up by Ozil. If Laca’s injury bothers him, he can be substituted with Martinelli playing on the left and Auba moving to centre.
Playing behind Ozil should be Ceballos and Torreira/Guendozi. Definitely not Xhaka. If Ozil tires out, Ceballos can play #10 and his place in midfield can taken up Guendozi or Torreira from the bench.
Our backline must stay the same as last game, since it will allow Luiz-Sokratis partnership to settle down, which is sad for Chambers. Leno needs to be more vocal and authoritative between the sticks.
Liverpool has bullied us in the last 2-3 years but a bully only understands bullying, so playing soft and defensive won’t help us.
well said
Dont forget to by pass the goddamn GK. Make him commit mistakes
Drop Joe W and bring in Xhaka or Lucas to that midfield then start Nico bench Nelson
All of this works in theory, but Arsenal give the ball away far too much to be able for this to work. I know everyone wants us to be positive, and try to beat Liverpool at their own game. Truthfully, it’s a recipe for disaster. They have better midfielders than us, and forwards that will punish us even easier than ours. Catching them on counters is something they have been vulnerable to so far this season and I think this is a game where we have to be more defensive and clinical on counters to win. Bypass midfield as often as we possibly can, team up on then right side of defensive which is weaker.
Do a Ramos and take Salah out?
Comparison – Arsenal Vs Liverpool
Lino Vs Alisson – (0-1)
Monreal Vs Robertson – (0-1)
Sokratis Vs Van Dijik – (0-1)
Louis Vs Matip – (0-1)
Maitland Vs Arnold – (1-0)
Xhaka Vs Vijnaldum – (0-1)
Toreria Vs Milner – (1-0)
Ceballos Vs Chamberlien (1-0)
Pepe Vs Salah – (1-1)
Aubameyang Vs Mane – (1-1)
Lacazette Vs Firmino (1-0)
6 Vs 7 – We are almost there.
No one in their right mind would have MN ahead of Arnold and while Pepe could become a special talent he is not at the level,of salah yet .. Not a fan of matip and certainly think Louis matches him .. Alison is out so we are better there .. But on any sensible criteria we are still a bit off one on one .. But the big gap is in terms of teamwork … If we don’t up the game Saturday on that front it will be difficult 2 things we have to do
1. Keep xhaka on the bench
2. Get the ball more quickly in to play from dead balls and throw ins
Overall I don’t think Liverpool are much better player by player.
But they have a system, where all players work hard and know what to do. Their pressing force mistakes from their opponents.
We haven’t perfected our system yet. We haven’t had the same amount of time for the coach to implement it, and for me that is the main difference.
However, I think we are getting closer, and maybe we can take point s from them. That must be our target.
What’s the point of turning up for the game if we concede defeat before even kicking a ball. This is football, any team can win/lose. Liverpool is a great team, but they are not immortal. We should work as a unit, impose our game & avoid stupid mistakes. Disrupt their passing & movement & press harder than them. It’s a very long shot but I believe we can come out of Anfield with a positive result.