Arsenal face their first big test this season when they host Liverpool on Monday night. The Gunners are up against a Liverpool side which has undergone some changes in the summer but pose a real collective threat. Arsenal, though, are on the back of a well deserved away victory at Palace last week. Even though this is quite early in the season, this game would certainly provide a glimpse of what to expect from both sides this season.
Predicted Line-ups:
Arsenal – Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud.
Liverpool – Mignolet, Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Gomez, Henderson, Milner, Coutinho, Ibe, Lallana, Benteke
Key Stats:
- Liverpool v Arsenal has seen more hat-tricks than any other fixture in Premier League history (5).
- Arsenal have lost just one of their last seven Premier League games against Liverpool (W4 D2 L1).
- Olivier Giroud’s next Premier League appearance will be his 100th. He’s scored 42 goals in 99 PL apps for Arsenal – only Thierry Henry (59), Ian Wright (56) and Emmanuel Adebayor (44) scored more in their first 100 PL apps for the club.
- Only Manchester United (21) have secured more Premier League wins against Arsenal than Liverpool (16).
- Liverpool has only allowed their opponents three shots on target in their two Premier League games in 2015-16 so far; fewer than any other side.
- Martin Skrtel has scored three goals in his last two Premier League games against Arsenal – only against Man City has he scored as many PL goals (3).
-
- Liverpool
Team news –
Arsenal :
Arsenal has no new injury issues barring the long term ones.
“From the Palace game we have no injuries and we have still Wilshere, Welbeck and Rosicky to come back. And we have no suspensions. So we should have a similar squad for the Liverpool game.”
Talking about Rosicky, Wenger confirmed that he is still a long way from recovering and had positive news on Wilshere.
“Rosicky is progressing nicely, but he is far away. Wilshere should be the first back from those players, he is making good progress.”
Liverpool:
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is the only major doubt for the game on Monday as the midfielder picked up a foot injury during training. Jon Flanagan and Daniel Sturridge are long-term absentees as they continue their recovery. No recent update has been provided regarding both the players.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool.
Comments are closed.