Liverpool travel to the Emirates on Monday to face off against Arsenal in what promises to be one enticing fixture. The away side will be eager to give a good account of themselves, whose last visit ended in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of a rampant Arsenal and that game was effectively put to bed with a 3-goal 8-minute blast from Arsenal. Don’t I love it when the Gunners go berserk like that!
Coming back to the present now, the Merseyside club have recorded 2 consecutive 1-0 wins in their first two games of the season, securing all 6 points, despite the fact that the Premier League association have come out publicly stating that the winner scored in the game against Bournemouth by Benteke, shouldn’t have stood.
The Gunners on the other hand have had a decent start to their season marred by a defeat on the opening day, but followed it up with a win against Crystal Palace to secure the first points of the season. I’m expecting an attacking game of football which should hopefully pan out to be a treat for the fans.
It will be interesting to see how Monsieur Wenger will line up his squad to hopefully achieve the same result as was the case in this fixture last season. I don’t think it’ll be easy though, you just have to imagine how things would have turned out had Sterling been able to latch onto Markovic’s pass! It’ll be a stern test for our seemingly shaky defense, which should start showing a greater level of solidity sooner rather than later.
Team news:
There aren’t any fresh injury concerns and there might not be any change to the squad that took to the field against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Wenger in his pre-match interview to Arsenal’s official website confirmed that Alexis will not be short of full fitness for this crucial match.
Predicted Lineup:
Keeper: Cech
Defence: Bellerin Mertesacker Koscielny Monreal
Defensive Midfield: Coquelin Cazorla
Attacking Midfield: Ramsey Ozil Sanchez
Striker: Giroud
I believe Wenger won’t make any changes to his starting eleven and will field the same team he had named at Selhurst Park. However there are some chances that Wenger might go for Walcott instead of Giroud owing to the defensive vulnerability of Liverpool.
It is interesting to note that the team which lined up against Palace, with the exception of Cech, was the same time which had started against Liverpool in April. Here’s hoping our team will put in a satisfactory performance. Do you think Walcott should start in place of Giroud? Comment! Or tweet me @LovePoldi. Cheers!
