Match Preview: Liverpool v. Arsenal, 08.20.11

By: Ed | August 19th, 2011

dalglishwenger

Old friends reunite at the Emirates, with Kenny Dalglish’s side looking to take all three points from Arsenal at their home ground for the first time since the twenty pixels that make up Titi Camara’s body gave Liverpool the win at Highbury in the 1999-2000 season. Any points against Arsenal have been hard to come by, but this fixture has been an absolute beast.

But if there’s any time for Liverpool to enter feeling confident, this would be it—much of the summer months have been devoted to Arsenal-related drama, with Cesc Fabregas again dragging out a Barcedrama, Samir Nasri declaring his interest in moving elsewhere, and Arsene Wenger coming under fire for staying relatively static in the midst of everything swirling around him. There’s a sense that much more is desired from the Arsenal boss, who’s stood firm on his principles despite growing criticism.

To assume that Liverpool can waltz in and take advantage of all this would be foolish, of course; they’re still Arsenal, and their squad still has a tremendous amount of talent regardless of who will or won’t be available. They’re still capable of playing one of the more attractive brands of football in Europe, even with the end product at times evading their grasp. And, even with a healthy contingent ruled out for tomorrow, they’ve got a decade’s worth of results to lean back on.

The contingent referred to above is lengthy, with the BBC reporting injuries for Kieran Gibbs, Johan Djourou, Tomas Rosicky, Armand Traore, Jack Wilshere, and Abou Diaby. We can add Alex Song and Gervinho to that list, both of whom picked up three-match bans from incidents in last Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Newcastle. Song’s was retroactive, as league officials spotted his blatant stamp on Joey Barton’s leg. Barton was also explicitly involved in Gervinho’s sending off, which drew plenty of attention to both parties, but disciplinary action only taken towards the Arsenal summer signing.

The injuries and suspensions leave Wenger with a limited selection tomorrow, although reports today have Wenger announcing that Samir Nasri is in the squad and available to play. Fellow wantaway Nicklas Bendtner is also still with the club but less likely to feature, as Wenger can call on Robin van Persie, Marouane Chamakh, Theo Walcott, Andrei Arshavin, and potentially Nasri to spearhead their attack. There’s not as many options in midfield, with Aaron Ramsey and Emmanuel Frimpong expected (read: spotted in green training jerseys, thanks to commenter SJGumby over at Arsenal Offside) to play centrally. Thomas Vermaelen will lead the squad defensively alongside either Sebastian Squillaci or Lorent Koscielny, with Bacary Sagna and no clear-cut choice at left back in front of Wojciech Szczęsny in goal.

As for Liverpool:

Who starts for Liverpool?

Reina
Kelly Carragher Agger Enrique
Lucas Adam
Kuyt Suarez Downing
Carroll

—I mentioned it in the news and notes post earlier, but worth repeating that at current, the only injuries in the squad are the longer-term ones for Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson. That apparently means that Martin Skrtel and Fabio Aurelio are back among the picking, which gives Kenny Dalglish a few more choices to make than he had last week.

—One of the easy choices for most is bringing Martin Kelly into the squad for Jon Flanagan, despite the fact that Flanagan was lights-out at the Emirates last season. I think the potential for piling-on is too high after the youngster’s struggles against Sunderland, which shouldn’t be a reason to omit him on its own, but with Kelly available I think that’s what we’ll get. And unless there’s a late fitness check, I’m guessing the other three are the same as last week, with Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger partnering centrally and José Enrique at left back.

—Midfield is again the least clear, although you’d figure that Dirk Kuyt will replace Jordan Henderson on the right. Again, the easy pick is for Dalglish to stick with Lucas and Charlie Adam deeper in midfield, with a more advanced line of Kuyt, Luis Suarez, and Stewart Downing. Having Kuyt in the lineup provides more cover for whoever features at right-back, which then frees Downing up to do a bit more moving forward. And as usual, I’m looking for ways to include Raul Meireles and hoping to see him the eleven. Edit: Forgot to include Alberto Aquilani in the mix until Red2Death mentioned him in the comments—think he’d be well suited for a match like tomorrow’s, and seeing him in the squad would be welcomed. Or most likely he’s being sold as we speak.

—There’s been a good amount of buzz around Andy Carroll throughout the preseason and last weekend—he was mostly excellent during the first half, but his performance declined markedly once he turned into a hoofing target. As others have noted, it’s less about his effectiveness and more about those flinging it forward, so if they can manage to move the ball forward without bypassing most of the midfield, Carroll’s much more likely to have an impact. Both Downing and Enrique have talked about the luxury of having him up front, but in the second half last week, it might as well have been Carragher praising his presence.

What’s the most important factor for the Reds?

Away form was, for the first half of last season, absolutely horrific. A solitary win at Bolton in the dying minutes was all they could muster until late January, when they finally started to string together quality performances both home and away. There’s really no better test for the squad than away to Arsenal—Liverpool have managed to put together match-winning performances at the home grounds of most of the rest of the Premier League, but as mentioned above, travelling first to Highbury and then the Emirates has been a monumental task. Worrying that the second half performance against Sunderland closely mirrored Liverpool’s displays from the early part of last year; if that’s the case tomorrow, it could be a long afternoon regardless of how rough things have been for Arsene Wenger and company.

Early kickoff tomorrow, but at least the only challenge to watching will be your raging hangover—Sky Sports will carry coverage in the UK, while ESPN2 and ESPN3.com will have the match live stateside. As usual, let us know where the match is televised wherever you’re at and we’ll be sure to run it along with less legal ways of watching in the matchday thread. Seeing as I’m in a time zone that demands a foolishly early wake-up, team sheets will run around half an hour before kickoff. Feel free to use the gap between the time they’re released and the time I run them to talk about how much more committed you are than I, and then punch yourself in the face for being an elitist.

See you back here first thing tomorrow, where the expletives are sure to flow freely.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:

Category: Match Previews, Miscellaneous, Premier League, Team News

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Lonelyportrait

The nasri situation at arsenal certainly mirrors this time last year with the mascherano situation, pretty similar that. I'm hoping for a similar result, for arsenal that is..
Scrottytoohotty

Just my luck to get a game that kicks off at like 11:30pm, give me a sunday game so i wont be overly pissed for it.
TeamCropDusters

I could see Arsenal lining up like this:
4-2-3-1
Szczesny
Sagna;Koscielny;Squillaci;Vermaelen
Frimpong;Ramsey
Walcott;Arshavin;Miyaichi
Van Persie

Bench
Chamakh
Bendtner
Nasri (Wener said he's in the squad, he may play in the hole with Arshavin taking Ryo's spot)
Lansbury
Chamberlain
Jenkinson
Fabianski

Djourou, Rosicky, Gibbs, and Traore are out with injuries while Song and Gervinho are suspended.
TeamCropDusters

Is KK gonna play the 4-2-3-1 on the road Arsenal instead of the 4-4-2 he featured against Sunderland?

I guess if you break it down it's really similar to a 4-4-1-1 with Suarez in the hole with the wingers further up the pitch. I'd like to see us play the 4-4-1-1 exclusively anyway if we aren't going to switch to the 4-3-3 which would suit us very well IMO.

If Carroll can become more accurate with his short range passing (he already is learning to hold the ball up effectively) the 4-4-1-1 could be very dangerous with Suarez
Ed

Yeah, there's probably about three or four different ways to slice it--the one above is mostly for ease of organization. Wouldn't be surprised to see all four of the ones you mention at some point.
TeamCropDusters

It's just with so many CM's a 4-3-3 would make a lot of sense. Plus with Downing we have someone to put on the RW, with Suarez on the LW, and Carroll in the middle.

I honestly thought that is where KK was going when he added Henderson and Adam on top of Stevie, Lucas, Raul, Aquilani, Spearing, Shelvey, and Poulsen.

Don't get me wrong I am happy with the 4-4-1-1, but a 4-3-3 would make it easier to play our logjam of CM'ers.

I guess the main difference between the 4-2-3-1 and the 4-4-1-1 (besides the wingers playing further up the pitch) is that the wingers actually play a little more narrow (as attacking mids).
Ryan

So Mata goes to Chelsea. Funny how that one worked out. I would have preferred him to Downing, but. NOW HE SUCKS AND I HATE HIM CHELSKI EEWW
CheekyFellow

He officially sign with them?
TeamCropDusters

No. It is not official.
Perry S.

As a gooner, I just pray that even if we lose, thats it's a respectable loss. I've been a fan of AFC since I was running around in only my skimpies, and to be honest, this is most agonizing spell as a fan I've been through in quite awhile. Looking forward to the early match and then either being motivated for the day, or lulling away in bed thereafter.
PDubz18

I don't know how much experience you Arsenal fans have with this, but after hard losses LFC fans tend to lull away in a few drinks.

Just a suggestion.
Ryan

It's kinda "our thang". Liver is most certainly the name of the pool. Some doctor, right now, is finding a connection between Roy Hodgson and liver failure increases throughout the world.
GalahadThreepwood

I think the words of Rage Against the Machine are appropriate for Liverpool in this match:

It has to start somewhere,
It has to start somehow,
What better place than here,
What better time than now?

In 1987, Liverpool's run of dominance under Kenny Dalglish got underway with an away win against Arsenal. What could be better than a win against Arsenal to get the new Dalglish era off and running? I'm nervous about this match, but I think a win is possible, and I'm going in hoping for great things.
mardia

Personally I'm rather paranoid about tomorrow's match--the injuries/suspensions to Arsenal's squad, combined with the general narrative of "omg Arsenal are in a crisis!!111!" means that, theoretically, we should have an easier time of it.

But I am extremely paranoid about any result that we supposedly have "in the bag". Maybe this is a carryover from last season, where we won all the games I was worried about, and lost the ones I was more confident over. So no predictions from me, I'm just hoping Liverpool can get the three points (and, ideally, a clean sheet).

In more important news, the Hillsborough petition is now over 60,000 signatures, and still going. When I went to bed last night, it was at 45,000. This is awesome, but it needs to keep going. http://epetitions.direct.gov.u...
CheekyFellow

Ever since last August, I don't see any match as in the bag.
alcatrazzledazzle

The only bag I have is a paper one to breathe into before, during and after the match
Guest

We could win 3-0 tomorrow and I'll still be super pissed if I don't hear Kenny tell Arsene to piss off.
Red2death

I hope we see Aquilani tomorrow.
JPR

I double down on that sentiment.
TeamCropDusters

I think we might. I think he will be named to the squad at least (unlike last week). He was easily our most impressive player this preseason and he (along with the Viking) saved our azzes against Valerenga. He could take N'Gog's place in the team leaving Kuyt as the lone Striker on the bench.

Pepe
Kelly;Scouser;Viking;Enrique
Henderson;Lucas;Adam;Downing
Suarez
Carroll

Bench:
Kuyt
Raul
Aquilani
Maxi
Skrtel
Aurelio
Doni

I would imagine that since we are playing an elite Premier League team that KK will field his strongest, most experienced side.

It's nice to get guys like Spearing, Flanagan, and Robinson in the squad against the smaller teams in the league but when facing Man U, Chelsea, Man City, Tottenham, and Everton it is important to field the best possible squad. One point could be the difference between the Champions League and the Europa League (or no European football at all).
JPR

Kuyt instead of Henderson. Aquaman or Meireles instead of Adam. Though KK seems to have a strong preference for Adam. His set play deliveries could be a factor. Can't wait for gametime. Come on you Scousers! No fear boys, leave it all on the pitch. Let's bag us some Gooners.
Red2death

I'd actually suggest the alternative strategy of fielding a strong side against the 15 or so non-big teams.

Time and again we've proven we can't rely on our second-stringers to get 3 points against lower opposition. Fact is we still don't have the requisite quality on the bench yet. In time to come I'm sure we will, especially when the younger kids mature and improve. But right now, not yet.

I'd rather we of course try our best against Arsenal, Chelsea, etc. Play for the shirt, honour the rivalries. It sucks more to lose a big game. But in terms of the league, our bread and butter is making sure we actually grab 3 points against every team we're expected to beat. 15 of those teams, 30 matches, 90 points at stake. If we can get 70 of those points, plus whatever we fight for against the top 4-5, we'll be in good stead.
TeamCropDusters

I'd rather we fielded our strongest\most experienced side EVERY game.... but the youngsters gotta play to get better it seems.

I'd rather play the youngsters against Norwich and Swansea than Man U
and Chelsea personally, but your point is well taken and definitely has
its merits.

Last week KK started Flanagan, and put Spearing and Robinson on the bench against a pretty stout Sunderland team.... I would've included Aquilani and Maxi in the team over N'Gog and Spearing. Sunderland is a VERY underrated team and made some outstanding signings.
CheekyFellow

Stop with your mathematics and common sense
Baadier

Agreed but looking increasingly unlikely, a real pity though....
Red2death

If memory serves me right, there were some surprising recent stats about Carroll's ability to receive hoofs well, regardless of who's doing the hoofing. Something about him being able to bring a high percentage of them under control and lay them off to a teammate.

Not that it should be an excuse to hoof though. Would much rather see a Lucas-Meireles-Gerrard triangle tiki-taka in amongst opposition defenders at pace.

But ok, if big British lad Andy Carroll can control a Carrahoof and then shove his way past those lightweight Continental defenders to score tomorrow, I guess that'd be alright too.
DJ-Chutfield

A hoof is the easiest thing in the world to defender against... just give him a nudge in the back as he tries to chest it down and possession is lost. I think their complete and total ineffectiveness every time we've had to rely on them shows their, well... ineffectiveness. I'd much rather our primary target be tiki-taka pass and move football. Back-up plan would be work it up the wings and cross it to Andy, not hoof from the edge of our own box.
JPR

Carroll does have a unique ability of being the first touch on those hoofed beauties. But, almost always, sometime within about the next 2 to 3 seconds the ball has changed possession. Just not enough support at that time to hold up the play.
GunnerPete

All AFC can manage in midfield Saturday are two kids Ramsey and Frimpong. The defence is again decimated and our one and only support player for RVP is now suspended for 3 games due to Barton's cheating...again! Now we Gunners do a lot of whining because as fast as Arsene creates a new superstar he has to sell......Now the Pool have an incredible chance as does Manure next week, to splash egg all over Arsene and the boards money rich faces for the lies about signings to come. The sad fact is though, they will not care because the buying time will have run out again, and they can use Arsene speak to explain that however hard they tried, someone, like Chelski or City, Liverpool ,Manure, Spurs, Wigan, Fulham etc. outbid us. Good luck this season Scousers, apart from this Saturday.
redtrev73

Pete, it is a delightful revelation to see that it's not just us Redmen that are tortured by angst and neuroses regarding our beloved club. It's actually quite a testament to Arsene's way of doing things that after the loss of Fabregas, the suspensions to Song and Gervihno and the various injuries, the potential line-up on Saturday, with or without Nasri is still strong. If I was a gooner I would be raging with Wenger for not signing Shay Given years ago and at least 2 quality centre-halves. Let me return your gracious good wishes for the season with the obvious exceptions of our two games.
Red2death

We feel your pain. Hope you don't have to sink to the depths we did in order for things to change. I would never wish Hodgson on you.

Hope your half-reserve squad, young as they may be, rise up to the challenge and play some fantastic football anyway. (starting next week against Utd of course).
GunnerPete

Thanks Scouse..funny how we get along but we both detest the Mancs...both of them? Mind you, most Gunners like the Geordies and the Welsh but detest Spuds and Chavs (chelski).

Good luck after Saturday.
CheekyFellow

Is Adam going to be able to keep up with the Arsenal players (especially because they'll be even younger than usual!) for all the 90 minutes?

If he's healthy, perhaps this is the time that Meireles is put into the starting eleven? But who knows I guess.
GerrardsBoxingCoach

Raul and Lucas in front of the back four. Suarez--Aqua--Kuyt in front of them. Carroll up front. If Carroll isn't manhandling their centerbacks like he ought to be, push Suarez or Kuyt up and bring on Downing. I know the Downing-Carroll connection is supposed to be trumps, but I'd like to think neither player is so one-dimensional that he can only function as part of a cross-then-head one-two punch.
Geza

I am with you - we'll need Raul tomorrow. But above all we should be playing with no fear.
Ed

Trick question, it's always the time to put Meireles into the starting eleven.
CSD

Ahhh love these early kickoffs. When else do you have a good excuse to drink beer at 6:30am?
Tom Foolery

Don't forget the furry of expletives. Nothing like waking up roommates cursing your laptop...I don't think they'll ever understand.
alcatrazzledazzle

Mine certainly don't understand when I curse loudly at them while they sleep on non-Liverpool game days, but luckily tomorrow I have an excuse!
Ravenilli

When you're like me and Irish we are usually only half way through the drinking session when it comes to drinking at 6:30am.