WE’RE only three weeks into the campaign and already we have a battle of the titans on our hands – it’s the Gunners hosting the Reds at the Emirates.
It has been an indifferent start to the 2015/16 season for Arsene Wenger’s men, with a loss at home to start the season against West Ham and a shaky 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
The Gunners have just three points from the opening two matches.
Liverpool has done what they have had to do to get the points without being completely convincing.
A 1-0 win away at Stoke, courtesy of a Philippe Coutinho thunderbolt and a 1-0 win at home against Bournemouth leaves the Reds with maximum points from two games.
Both teams were highly-fancied going into the season, but will need to vastly improve if they are to make an impact this season.
Potential starting XI’s:
Arsenal:
Cech; Bellerin, Monreal, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Coquelin, Cazorla , Ramsey, Sanchez, Ozil, Giroud
There should not be many changes to the side that took care of Palace away.
Francis Coquelin will retain his place in the side despite being lucky not to receive a second yellow card; Mesut Ozil’s man-of-the-match performance will ensure he starts ahead of Theo Wallcott.
Alexis Sanchez allayed any fears that he lacked match fitness with a stellar display for 70 minutes.
Liverpool:
Mingolet, Clyne, Skrtel, Gomez, Lovern, Can, Lallana, Firmino, Milner, Coutinho, Benteke
With Jordan Henderson limping off the field early in the second half, Brendon Rodgers may have no choice but to release the shackles on new signing Roberto Firmino.
Firmino has only seen action as a substitute so far this season, but with the absence of the Liverpool captain, Rodgers may opt to field an attacking side to serve it up to the Gunners at the Emirates.
Youngster Joe Gomez retains his spot after an impressive opening to the season, while ex-City midfielder James Milner should take the captain’s armband with Henderson unavailable.
Match prediction:
Odds provided by Sportsbet.com.au
Winner: Draw ($3.80)
Correct score: Draw 2-2 ($17.00)
First goal scorer: Christian Benteke ($7.50)
English Premier League enthusiasts will have to wait until the final match of the week to see the battle between the Gunners and the Reds, but on paper it looks like it will be worth the wait.
The Gunners have been less than stellar in their campaign thus far, and the big move of acquiring Peter Cech from Chelsea has yet to pay dividends with the red side of London yet to keep a clean sheet.
Liverpool have not set the world on fire, but still have six points to their name, which keeps the pressure off under fire manager Brendan Rodgers.
It took a spectacular effort from Coutinho in the opening game against Stoke and a goal that potentially could have been disallowed to Benteke for the Reds to get the points, but they will not be complaining.
Despite holding two clean sheets Liverpool’s defence has not been as solid as they would have liked in the opening two weeks, and with several great attacking options, the Gunners could exploit this.
The Gunners’ defence has been flimsy, and with Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Christian Benteke all daring to push deep into the box, it could spell trouble for Aresne Wenger.
.It points towards a pulsating contest between two powerhouses of English football.
Expect both defences to concede goals they probably should have kept out, but with neither side really proving they are top-tier at this early stage, a draw looks the most likely scenario.
Week two wash up
Both teams ended up with wins in the second week of the season, but neither Arsene Wenger nor Brendon Rodgers would be happy with how their teams performed.
Arsenal travelled to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace on the back of a devastating home loss to West Ham, and found the lead early through a brilliantly taken Olivier Giroud volley.
The Gunners conceded the next goal but eventually found the winner late in the second half when an Alexis Sanchez header caught a deflection from a Villa defender and found its way into the back of the net.
A big concern will be the inability of Arsenal’s defenders to close out opponents and keep clean sheets, with summer signing Peter Cech conceding three goals from the opening two matches.
Liverpool were lacklustre but did enough to put another three points in the bank with an important home win against Bournemouth.
The Reds found the back of the net late in the first half when new signing Christian Benteke tapped in a beautifully taken Jordan Henderson cross to score his first goal on his home debut at Anfield.
Liverpool manager Brendon Rodgers was full of praise for the Belgian after his decisive goal.
“I thought he was a real handful tonight — you saw all the facets of his game,” Rodgers said.
“It gives us a different dimension to our game, whilst looking to retain that philosophy to move the ball and get fluency. That will come and grow over the coming months.”
Another positive for the Reds was their outstanding defence, led by new signing Nathaniel Clyne who held the one goal margin right up until the final whistle.
It was the second clean-sheet for Liverpool in as many weeks, with their sometimes shaky defence of last season holding strong in the opening fortnight of football.
