Ask an Arsenal fan what their ideal gift would be this Christmas and I bet most would say “three points at Anfield”.
That is the challenge for us tonight: to make the most of a match at Liverpool for the first time since 2012, a match in which Mikel Arteta played in midfield. They are very strong at home and although we have played well in our “big” away games this season, we ended up losing to Newcastle and Aston Villa. Let’s hope that later it’s the third time’s the charm.
As for the team, I would be surprised if it wasn’t exactly the same team that started against Brighton. We’re not exactly loaded with rotation options, but we played very well against a tough team and I don’t think there’s any reason to change anything. Ideally this would have been a Takehiro Tomiyasu match, but without him it will be Oleksandr Zinchenko and that side of the field will be busy for both sides.
They obviously possess a big attacking threat on their right with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah, which will require a lot of defensive vigilance. Not only Zinchenko, but also Gabriel Martinelli, who will have to step back and do his duty. At the same time, with Trent playing further forward, there could well be space for Martinelli to run, something he is very good at, and if the final ball can be a little better today when it gets into those areas, we could hurt. them on that side.
When you add Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz to the mix, we have plenty of ways to cause them problems, and I’m sure Arteta will be keen for his team to play with the kind of control we have. have most of the season. As he put it yesterday in his press conference:
Have the ball as far as possible from the goal and be dominant in the areas you want to be dominant and that’s it.
Simple… on paper. Different on the grass. And matches against Liverpool usually have a kind of chaos that is impossible to control, even with the best will in all the pre-match planning. An argument on the sidelines, or a flashpoint on the field, as we have seen in recent seasons. Beyond that, we’ve had some crazy games against them in recent years, some high-scoring draws, etc., but I found it very interesting that the two coaches were so different this week when talking about the atmosphere.
Klopp made some comments after their midweek win over West Ham about how much they need the fans, and that says something about how he sees this Arsenal team. He knows this is the best game he has faced in his time in England and is looking for every possible marginal advantage he can get. If that means he takes some stick for a mild rebuke to his own fans, he’s willing to do it, and I’m sure the crowd will be willing to respond today to what he said.
Arteta, meanwhile, did his best to downplay those aspects. We know he has spoken before about the atmosphere at Anfield, we know he tried that with the speakers at the training ground, but this time, when asked if it was about silencing the crowd, he said:
I think you have to play better than them and you will silence the crowd if you are dominant and better than them. As in any other field, I think it is no different.
Ultimately, while noise from the stands may play a small role, it is much more about which team best executes its game plan and makes the most of opportunities in front of goal. This will be more of a technical and tactical battle than anything else.
It’s very difficult to predict what might happen next, but I have no doubt that this is an Arsenal team capable of going to Anfield and winning the game. We have the quality from back to front to do it, but we also have to recognize how strong they are, especially in the attacking areas. Maybe it just takes a moment of magic, for someone like Saka or Martinelli to find a way to produce one or two goals that gift-wrap three points and keep us at the top of the table for Christmas.
Fingers crossed.
Remember, you can join us for live blog coverage and all post-game material at Arseblog News. There’s still time to listen to our preview podcast on Patreon too.
For now, take it easy and we’ll see you later for the game.
