It is the clash of the titans this weekend in the Premier League as Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side take on Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday.
The Reds will still be reeling from the 3-1 drubbing at the hands of Leicester City on Monday night and will be hoping to bounce back from that humiliating defeat. Arsenal will be coming into the game on the back of a 2-0 victory in the fifth round of FA Cup against non-league side Sutton United and they will look to continue on a similar vein of form and build some momentum ahead of the very important Champions League tie against Bayern Munich.
The last time these two sides met was on the opening day of the season, with Liverpool emerging 4-3 winners eventually. Hence, Klopp will be hoping for a similar result on Saturday evening as well. The fixture is of great importance, given the extremely close competition for the top-four spots and here, we discuss three things that could help Liverpool come out on top against the Gunners.
Exploit Arsenal’s Left-Flank
Arsenal’s weak spot this term has been their left flank, where the ever-so consistent Nacho Monreal not being on top of his game, and his backup Kieran Gibbs not having inspired much confidence either.
The fact that Alex Iwobi isn’t the most willing of players to help his defender out means that the flank has been exposed. This has been exploited on a number of occasions this season.
Unleashing the brilliant Sadio Mane against the Arsenal left-flank and giving full license to the explosive Nathaniel Clyne to bomb forward from right-back could be the key for the Reds. But having a target in the box will be needed for this approach to bear fruits. Hence going in with a traditional striker like Divock Origi could prove to be beneficial for Klopp and Liverpool.
Don’t Play Lucas As Centre-Back
It is no secret that the Liverpool backline is the team’s biggest weak link. This has come back to haunt them on many occasions and it was the case on Monday against Leicester as well.
With Dejan Lovren unavailable, Klopp opted to field holding midfielder Lucas Leiva at the centre-half, but the Brazilian was tormented by the blistering pace of Jamie Vardy throughout the evening and was their poorest performer on the night. A question mark remains over Lovren’s availability, but the German tactician should avoid playing Lucas at the back at all costs if he is to avoid another humiliating defeat. The pace and the power of Arsenal attacker Alexis Sanchez could rip him apart, especially with the form that the Chilean has been this season. He could leave Liverpool battered and bruised.
Apply the Squeeze on the Arsenal Midfield
Liverpool picked up their only league win of the calendar year against third-placed Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month. And the biggest highlight of that performance being the display of the Reds’ midfield.
Giorginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson pressed and harried the powerful Tottenham midfield duo of Victor Wanyama and Mousa Dembele. They did not allow them the time on the ball to develop play from the middle of the park. They also took Dele Alli out of the game and as a result they had complete control of the game. Henderson will not be available for the Saturday’s game, but if his replacement, who is most likely to be Emre Can; and Wijnaldum manage to apply a similar squeeze on the Arsenal midfield and keep Mesut Ozil quiet for large parts of the game, they could come out of this with all three points.