Arsenal Will Kill Off Liverpool’s Top 4 Aspirations

Match Preview – Arsenal vs Liverpool – Premier League – 04.04.15

The interlull can be the death of form – good or bad – and as such we can’t really look at how well Arsenal have been playing recently too or take into complete account Liverpool’s soul-crushing defeat to Manchester United.

Until that defeat to United, Liverpool were the form team in the Premier League and now sit in second place behind Arsenal in the form table.

Given the brief but dragging league hiatus and the players available and unavailable for this match it’s a hard one to predict but if you do fancy yourself as a bit of a predictions machine grab yourself an invite to the Dohyo and test your abilities against me and thousands of others.

Arsenal had their entire first team train yesterday for the first time in existence and noted historians inform me this is a sign of the apocalypse.

Of our returning players only Wilshere may take part but it’s highly unlikely he will start. Despite having players back from injury and working towards match fitness we could have an issue as most of our team are internationals and few have had the luxury of being rested.

Danny Welbeck faces a fitness test after picking up an injury whilst on England duty whereas Sterling and Sturridge who were deemed too injured/unfit to play for their country have made miraculous recoveries and are in contention for a start tomorrow.

Arsenal have a real chance to overtake City in 2nd place and a win today would all be confirm them as a Champions League team for next season.

Arsenal from; Szczesny, Ospina, Gibbs, Gabriel, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Chambers, Monreal, Bellerin, Ramsey, Coquelin, Özil, Rosicky, Walcott, Welbeck, Cazorla, Alexis, Giroud, Akpom.

Predicted Line-up

Ospina, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Özil, Cazorla, Ramsey, Alexis, Giroud

I expect to see substitute appearances from Welbeck, Chambers and Walcott.

Match Quote

“You want everybody available and back in the final months to compete at the top level. The consistency will play a big part in the success of the team and having everybody available can help.”  – Arsène Wenger

Last 3 Meetings

• Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal (12.12.2014)
• Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool (16.02.2014)
• Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal (08.02.2014)

Form Guide

Arsenal Last 5
WWWWW

Liverpool Last 5
LWDWW

Opposition watch

The top four isn’t quite out of reach for Liverpool yet and there is so much riding on this game for them it’s hard to tell how they will respond. A loss puts them out of the race for the top four and over-stretching themselves for points tomorrow could hamper them in their replay on Wednesday in the FA Cup.

The FA Cup is the only trophy available to both clubs but Champions League qualification is paramount too. Liverpool, having come so close to winning the title last season, need to progress as much as Arsenal do and in order to do so they need Champions League football to attract better players and improve their finances. However, as they showed last season, not having the ‘distraction’ of Europe helped their them in the league.

Beating Arsenal wouldn’t guarantee them Champions League football and they may feel winning a trophy would please the fans more than qualifying for a tournament they flit in and out of.

How they will approach this match is hard to call. Their form has generally been good since drawing with us in December but that loss to United may have wounded them and they don’t have a Suarez to bail them out any more.

Factfile

• Arsenal have only lost once to Liverpool in their last 7 matches
• Liverpool have only beaten Arsenal away once in their last 18 matches
• Arsenal have won 14 of their last 16 matches
• Liverpool have 26 points in the league in 2015, only Arsenal on 27 have more
• Arsenal have won 9 of their last 10 league matches
• Arsenal have won 8 league home games on the trot, their best record at the Emirates
• Liverpool can set a league record with their 7th consecutive away clean sheet
• Arsenal have scored in all 22 matches at the Emirates this season

Prediction

I think Arsenal will have too much for Liverpool so I’m going for 3-1 to Arsenal with Walcott, Alexis and Giroud on the scoresheet.

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