Arsenal.com

 

Morning all.

Feeling lucky? I’m not, not when it comes to this being Klopp’s final trip to The Emirates and all the luck he’s likely to bring with him. Will the officials be fair? I doubt it, will Liverpool be up for the fight? You bet they will. Will this group of Arsenal players be up for putting a massive dent in Klopp’s final Premier League title chasing campaign? I bleedin well hope so! Anything but 100% from every player who walks on to the pitch could cost us the game. It might be that 100% isn’t enough in the end but at least we’ll know they did all they could from start to finish.

Liverpool are hard enough to beat on any day so we cannot afford to make silly errors anywhere on the pitch. It’s highly likely Klopp will target our fullbacks, especially Zinchenko so he really needs to be switched on. We know he roams but he simply cannot afford to leave our left side weakened and/or vulnerable. If he’s caught out of position, it has an impact on the rest of the defence, on how we as a team defend. The bleedin obvious is when chances come, whoever they fall to has to be clinical but these guys don’t shoot high and wide on purpose. They’ll want to be burying their chances as much as we want them too. More probably.

Since our draw at Anfield, Liverpool have beaten Burnley, Newcastle United, Bournemouth and just this week, they thrashed Chelsea 4-1 at Anfield. They’ve also reached the Carabao Cup Final after scraping past Fulham 3-2 over the two legs. Our own form since that day hasn’t been as impressive as too many points were thrown away over the festive period. However, there’s nothing to be done about that now as those games and points are gone. The focus has to be on today and ahead only,

The gap between the top four teams isn’t that much. If by chance we can get the right result today, it’ll be down to just two points between us and Liverpool.

Mikel Arteta:

What we need to do is play the way we played in the last two games against them, and be more efficient in the areas that are going to decide the game. [I’m] very excited, it’s always great to prepare a game against Liverpool; how good they are, they dominate every aspect of the game. We play at home, and what I sense is a real sense of positivity and enthusiasm around the place.

Mikel Arteta and his players should know what to expect from Klopp’s team today. A 4-3-3 lineup with Alexander-Arnold drifting into midfield – space their for whoever starts left of our front three and just like when Zinchenko drifts out of possession, the central defenders can leave gaps as the fill the space the defender leaves. At home, Liverpool boss games but away, they’re happy to be patient, happy to let the home team have more of the ball. But, should we lose possession in their box, Liverpool’s counter attack will cause problems. They are so quick and direct.

This Isn’t a game for our front men to go to ground after the slightest of touches. Jesus, Saka, Martinelli and Odegaard need to show strength and maturity because there’s no guarantee a free kick will be given. I’m not saying it’s right, but officials are wise to the antics of Jesus who can go to ground far too easily and theatrically.

Lastly, if there’s a shot to be taken, for goodness sake take it. Liverpool will that’s for sure because they probably don’t care how goals are scored as long as they’re scored. A perfect goal isn’t worth any more than a scrappy goal. We need to see a bit more urgency in our play too, a bit of pace and directness, as well as width.

One more thing, I hope The Emirates is rocking, I hope it’s hostile and I hope for Klopp, on his final visit to the best club in north London, this turns out to be a day he’ll want to forget…

COYG’S!!!

 

 

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