The big game from this Saturday's Premier League action sees Arsenal travelling to Anfield to take on Liverpool in a match where both sides are coming off the back of a great result last weekend. Liverpool will be looking to keep their momentum going following their Carling Cup success but will face stiff opposition from Arsene Wenger's side, who are coming off the back off a great comeback win over bitter rivals Spurs.
When Liverpool travelled to London last August they struggled to break down the Gunners and it wasn't until Aaron Ramsey's bizarre own goal that they looked like winning the game and that goal only came after Emmanuel Frimpong had been sent off. Luis Suarez sprung from the bench to score a second and add some gloss to the scoreline. Since then Arsenal turned their fortunes around and got themselves back into the race for the final Champions League spot and now look a different side. They went through a rough spell in the last few weeks and hit a new low after a 4-0 defeat to AC Milan and then losing to Sunderland in the FA Cup but a stunning 5-2 win over Spurs last week is sure to add a spring to their step once more. Their defence wasn't good last week but they continuely found holes in the Spurs defence and Thomas Rosicky played his best game in the Arsenal colours for a very long time. He was magnificent. I've never been a big fan of Rosicky but along with Van Persie he was outstanding. Arsenal showed great spirit in the way they fought back and the way they pushed on after equalising to get the win. For many people Arsenal's win overshadowed a special weekend for Liverpool FC. They ended a six year trophy drought when they beat Cardiff in the Carling Cup final. They didn't cover themselves in glory and had to depend on three missed penalties from Cardiff to seal the victory. However the fact that they won it will give them a major boost and completes an incredible year for the club since the return of Kenny Dalglish as manager. They are still in the FA Cup and so there is still a strong chance they could win two trophies this season. I expected Liverpool to have a better year this year, especially with them not being in any European competition. They've disappointed me in the league this season but their cup form has been superb. Their still in with a shout of making the top four but will need a strong end to the season for that to happen. Since Steven Gerrard returned from injury they've looked a proper side. His return to the midfield has been a huge boost to the reds and a strong defence has made them tough to break down. The only fault they've had this year has been their finishing. They failed to score in eight games this year and among those were disappointing results against Stoke twice, Swansea, Fulham and Wigan. If they had a striker who could score twenty goals a year they would be title contenders but unfortunately for them Suarez and Carroll just don't get the goals. All the top clubs have got players that can score at any time in any game ; United have Rooney and Hernandez, Arsenal have Van Persie, Man City have Dzeko, Aguero and Balotelli, Spurs have Adebayor, Van der Vaart and Defoe. even Newcastle and Blackburn have got good goalscoring records from Demba Ba and Yakubu respectively. When these two meet on Saturday one of two things can happen. We could get a huge anti-climax where neither team builds on their momentum and we get a bore 0-0 or 1-0 scoreline or we could get both sides going for the win and plating their best and we end up with a great match. Hopefully we'll get the latter and I think we will get a great game from these two. Liverpool's strong defence will find it difficult to Van Persie and if Arsenal's midfield can reproduce their performance of last week then Liverpool may well struggle. Liverpool on the other hand will be a handful for Arsenal's vulnerable defence. Much will depend on the team selections but I do expect we will see goals in this one and I think Arsenal will pick up where they left off last week and get a crucial win. I think Arsenal will be a serious threat with Walcott, Van Persie and either Oxlade-Chamberlain or Gervinho and with the pace and ability those players provide on the break I think Liverpool's defence will be exposed too often and I don't see them scoring enough to get anything from the game. They don't get enough from Charlie Adam or Jordan Henderson in midfield and they rely too heavily on Gerrard for creation. Andy Carrolls goalscoring record is poor and Suarez not much better and so they don't have that goalscorer to pull them out of danger when they really need it. Reliance on midfield for goals will only get you so far and for me they have to buy a quality finishing forward this summer if they want to compete at the highest level where they belong again. Arsenal on the other hand rely too heavily on Van Persie but with the class he's shown this season they can get away with it and if they could find another consistent goal source they may return to the summit of English football once more. For the remainder of the season both sides will be looking for a good run of results to give them a solid base to lay the foundations for next season and Saturday's result should give us an indicator of which side will carry on their momentum and finish the stronger. Inconsistency is a word that describes both sides but with the pressure Wenger was and is under and the response he got from his players last week I think they will give him another win Saturday. I can't wait to see this game unfold and it's certainly a game you won't want to miss.
Ill be back tomorrow to look ahead to the rest of the Weekends games in the Premiership while also looking ahead to the upcoming Allianz National Football League fixtures.
No comments:
Post a Comment