Liverpool v Arsenal: the teams and the possibilities

by Bulldog Drummond

A win in this game would be an absolute miracle or a reason for the media suddenly to discover the dark forces that exist within the footballing underworld.  Or if they don’t want to admit anything might be odd in the world of football it might be simply “inexplicable”.   At least we can probably agree, at this moment, it seems unlikely, which would make it all the more joyous to behold.

Recent results are not with us (4-0 last season) and nor is the league record so far.

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	19	16	3	0	43	7	36	51
2	Tottenham Hotspur	19	15	0	4	42	18	24	45
3	Manchester City	19	14	2	3	51	15	36	44
4	Chelsea	19	12	4	3	37	16	21	40
5	Arsenal	19	11	5	3	41	25	16	38

They have scored 43 and we have scored 41 – not too much difference there.  But they have conceded only seven of which just a couple were at home.  And we have let in 25.

So the only thing to do is put out the strongest defence we can muster and hope they get a bit full of themselves [really? Liverpool? Full of themselves? Surely not! – Tony].

And so I suspect our strongest team at the moment is

Leno

Lichsteinger Sokratis Koscielny Kolasinac

Torreira Xhaka Guendouzi

Ramsey Aubameyang Iwobi

Playing Lacazette at Aubameyang at the same time in this game seems a luxury; Ramsey can drop back and fit into the defensive work as need be, and I suspect it will be needed.  Ozil I think is injured again.

On the beach therefore we might have some of…

Cech, Maitland-Niles, Elneny, Willock, Lacazette, Mustafi, Monreal

depending on how these injuries are coming along.

But….

Yes there is a but, because one might recall the FA Cup final of 2017 which proves that to those with faith the unexpected can on occasion happen.

You might remember that Chelsea had just won the league by several light years with a final table that read

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	38	30	3	5	85	33	52	93
2	Tottenham Hotspur	38	26	8	4	86	26	60	86
3	Manchester City	38	23	9	6	80	39	41	78
4	Liverpool	38	22	10	6	78	42	36	76
5	Arsenal	38	23	6	9	77	44	33	75

They were 18 points above us, they had outscored us and had a better defence.   Worse, our team selection was naff – or so it was said by many before the game.   Ospina was on his way out, Holding was too young and inexperienced, Mertesacker was too old, Xhaka was too useless, Oxlade Chamberlain was too injury prone, Ozil was too lazy, Welbeck wasn’t up to it.   As for those who came on as subs Coquelin was not Premier League standard, and nor was Elneny – only Giroud might look the part.

It started badly – Ramsey got booked within nine minutes, later Coquelin was booked in his first minute on the pitch.   And besides all that our route to the final was a joke.  Preston, Sutton, Lincoln and we only just got to the final in extra time.

And yet we won.  Not only that we became the most successful FA Cup team of all time, by far the most successful Cup team of modern times (remembering Man U started winning FA Cups while Arsenal were busy just about going out of business prior to the first world war).   And just to add to that the FA refused to acknowledge Arsenal as the Cup holders thereafter, having a picture of Liverpool on the home page of their FA Cup site!

Oh yes and Mr Wenger became the most successful FA Cup manager in the entire history of the Cup dating back to 1872.

So, just occasionally stuff happens.  Not all the time of course, and maybe not that often, but it can happen.  And even if it doesn’t, having Mustafi, Bellerin and Mavropanos back in training is surely going to give us a boost.   A bit of a run out in the FA Cup perhaps in the match against Blackpool?

And if we are still looking around for hope, well, James Milner isn’t playing apparently.

Elsewhere the tittle tattle is of who we will sign and still with no thoughts about home grown regulations, or come to that with the “25” rule which is funny since it has been in existence for quite a while.

Anyway, if we win it will be like that déjà vu thing all over again.

Untold Arsenal…

 

• Liverpool v Arsenal. All change at Liverpool, or more of the same?
• Liverpool v Arsenal: the injuries and the title winners predictions
• Liverpool v Arsenal: the preview
• Matchweek 20 – All the Games, All the Officials

And on the predictions site…

• Totteham Hotspur v Wolverhampton: the predictions
• Fulham v Huddersfield Town: the predictions
• Brighton v Burnley: the predictions
• Watford v Chelsea: match predictions