The Merseyside club Liverpool are opening up their new season with a trip to the Emirates stadium, where they will be facing Arsene Wenger’s side, Arsenal. Both the clubs have been crying out loud for winning Premier League title and this could well be their year, but the road is surely not an easy one, as both of them are suffering from some major injury crisis.
The German manager Jürgen Klopp will be looking forward to his first full season in charge, and a winning performance is expected from his side. Even though Arsenal have their home advantage, the Gunners are looking less favourites for the fixture given their numbers sitting on the sideline due to the injuries.
The recent form do not really favours the Anfield outfit, as they suffered by thumping 4-0 defeat in hands of the German side Mainz last week, while on the other hand, Arsenal have been a consistent side in the tour.
Arsenal vs Liverpool team news:
As stated earlier, both the sides have been struggling a lot lately due to the injuries, but it is Arsenal, who will be suffering a big blow as both Gabriel, Koscielny and Mertesacker will miss the game, while on the other hand, their German superstar Mesut Ozil and French attacker Olivier Giroud have just returned, hence, their participation in the game is highly unlikely.
With these men missing the game, the manager, Arsene Wenger will have to go with Callum Chambers or the new arrival Rob Holding for the centre-back pairing.
Even the visitors are having the concerns over the fitness of their players. Goalkeeper Loris Karius has broken his hand whilst Joe Gomez and Mamadou Sakho are also certain to miss out. Besides them, Joel Matip has just returned to the training, but there is no confirmation regarding his participation.
Furthermore, the new arrival Marko Grujic, James Milner and Daniel Sturridge, all are battling for their fitness and that means that the manager will have to use Divock Origi or Roberto Firmino as a centre forward.
Predicted Lineup:
Arsenal-
Cech
Bellerin; Holding; Chambers; Monreal
Xhaka; Coquelin
Chamberlain; Ramsey; Iwobi
Sanchez
Liverpool:
Mignolet
Clyne; Lovren; Klavan; Moreno
Henderson; Can; Wijnaldum
Mane; Firmino; Coutinho
Stats:
- This is the 220th meetings between Arsenal and Liverpool in all competitions.
- Arsenal win 72, Liverpool 76 and 53 matches end in draws.
- 551 goals have been involved, 266 for Arsenal and Liverpool bagged 285.
- Arsenal heaviest home win against Liverpool came by an 8-1 score-line during the 1934/35 season.
- Liverpool biggest away win over Arsenal is by a 5-0 margin 1893/94 League season.
Prediction:
This surely will be a cagey encounter between the side and the recent results suggest the same. The last two meeting in the previous campaign never had a winner, as the first ended as a goalless draw, while the other ended as a 3-3 draw. But this time, the scenario is completely different as the injuries might hamper the game at any point.
As stated earlier, Liverpool have been a more inconsistent side and a recent 4-0 defeat against Mainz states the same. Though Liverpool are carrying a more attacking threat, Arsenal are no less as they will be leading the lines with Alexis Sanchez.
Predicting a score is quite difficult, but we believe it will be a 2-2 draw.