Morning guys.
Mikel Arteta’s pre Liverpool press conference delivered some positive news on the injury front.
Both Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori have been training this week, as has Christos Tzolis although I very much doubt the latter will return to the starting lineup. Noni Madueke could be available too after missing the Fleetwood fixture.
Szoboszlai and Munoz could return from injury for Liverpool but Frimpong is ruled out as are long term injured Ekitike, Leoni and Bradley.
Talking Tactics – Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke:
Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool are starting to click, and from a tactical perspective they resemble Jurgen Klopp’s Reds a lot more than the side built by Arne Slot. This essentially means they are not as possession-focused – against Manchester City and Brighton they had around 36% of the ball for example – preferring to attack at speed from transitions, than controlling the tempo. No team has created more ‘direct attacks’ than our opponents this Sunday.
This style of play makes sense when you have so much rapidity in attack. Out wide, Bradley Barcola and Cody Gakpo offer great speed and directness, while Alexander Isak is another attacker who does not lack pace inside the opposition half. Liverpool top the standings for the most sprints per match.
Isak is in great form heading into this encounter, scoring in three successive Premier League games for the first time in a Liverpool shirt. His 30% conversion rate is impressive, with Gakpo assisting him for three of the six he’s netted. This combination play needs to be curtailed by us at Anfield.
Iraola uses a 4-2-3-1 shape with Florian Wirtz in behind Isak. The German playmaker only has two direct goal involvements this term, but covers a lot of ground and makes plenty of chances. Only one top-flight player has produced more key passes than Wirtz, who made nine chances against Brentford, and the No.10 is also the only individual to cover more than 13km in a single match this season.
Physically, we could hold a big advantage. Over the course of the campaign so far Mikel Arteta’s super-fit side has run further than anyone else, with Liverpool ranked the lowest in that department. If we play at a high tempo and test them athletically, it could provide a telling edge.
The last paragraph caught my attention, “if we play at a high tempo and test them athletically it could provide a telling edge”. Well, let’s hope we do. It’s been too many years since Arsenal won a league game at Anfield. Far too many. Just over fourteen to be precise when goals from Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla secured maximum points. Mikel Arteta was in the team back then but the midfielder who received much credit was Abou Diaby. Obviously that game bears no relevance to today’s fixture, other than Arteta knows what it’s like to win at Anfield but it’s about time this Arsenal, now his Arsenal team, experienced that same feeling. We’ve come close in recent seasons, with three draws and a 1-0 defeat in in our last four meetings, the latter coming last season when Szoboszlai smashed a free kick past David Raya from thirty yards out with just ten minutes of the game left.
The game itself was pretty dire if my memory serves me right. We managed 11 shots but only 1 was on target which pretty much sums our problems up.
I hope today we can be better, smarter and quicker in the oppositions half! Start on the front foot instead of the back. Today, get at Liverpool from the first whistle, show commitment, innovation and determination to win all three points.
Catch up later.
Why would we suddenly play a “high tempo” game ? We never do. It will be the same old bore.