Liverpool v Arsenal : 5 Key Battles Where The Game Will Be Won

AFTER an encouraging performance against Manchester City last weekend, Liverpool’s tough start to the league season continues against Arsenal on Sunday.

Last season’s corresponding fixture was a key moment in Liverpool’s campaign. In what was actually one of their best performances of the season, Liverpool played with pace and style, dominating Arsenal for long periods of the game and making their team look ordinary.

Liverpool missed a penalty, hit the post twice and forced a number of world class saves from the Arsenal goalkeeper, before succumbing to an injury time sucker punch from Robin van Persie.

Brendan Rodgers will be looking for a similar pattern this season, in terms of dominating possession and forcing the play, but will be hoping that his team will be more clinical in front of goal. Liverpool vs. Arsenal is always an entertaining fixture, with a lot of history attached to it (good and bad…), but where will the key battles be in this season’s fixture?

Luis Suarez vs. the Arsenal back four: it’s always hard to pinpoint which particular defender will be given the job of looking after Suarez, given his ability to drift across the back four and create mayhem virtually anywhere in the final third. You don’t have to have watched Liverpool too often over the last few games to understand that Suarez will be the critical element of Liverpool’s goal threat – his ability to go past players and create chances in very tight spaces will be important against Arsenal’s back line, but even more important will be how successful he is in converting those chances once they’ve been created…

Martin Skrtel vs. Olivier Giroud: Giroud has had a quiet start to his career in England, but arrived in the summer with a large price tag and an even bigger reputation in France. Giroud is a strong, physical centre forward and will be itching to make his mark in his first big game for Arsenal. As for Skrtel, he will be very keen to banish the memory of his costly mistake last weekend that allowed Carlos Tevez to snatch a point for Manchester City. How the big man bounces back in this test against Arsenal’s new target man will be an important part of how the match pans out.
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Glen Johnson vs. Kieran Gibbs: the style that Brendan Rodgers is looking to bring to Liverpool relies on full backs creating an overlap, getting forward and posing a genuine attacking threat. This will obviously suit Johnson, who loves to get into the opposition half and create chances. Up against him when he seeks to do this on Sunday will be Kieran Gibbs, another full back with pace that likes to get forward and support the attack. How successful Johnson manages to be in pushing Gibbs back and bringing Cazorla and others back into defensive areas of the pitch will be hugely influential in dictating the pattern of play.

Brendan Rodgers vs. Arsene Wenger: of course, one of the key battles in any big game is between the managers. Wenger is the second longest serving manager in the Premiership and has seen all of this before – he’s seen his team win at Anfield, lose at Anfield and draw 4-4 at Anfield in a number of free flowing, attacking games. How Rodgers sets his team up – will he start Sterling and Shelvey, will he start Sahin? – in terms of personnel and tactics will be critical. He got it right last Sunday against City and will have to do the same again if he’s to get the better of Wenger.

Steven Gerrard vs. Abou Diaby: the sale of Alex Song from Arsenal to Barcelona has put pressure on Abou Diaby as Arsenal’s main defensive midfielder. Arteta and Cazorla will want to play further forward, leaving Diaby to sit in front of the back four – exactly the area that Liverpool will be looking to their captain to get in and dominate. More often than not, when Gerrard plays well and gets into good areas, the team does well – his performance on Sunday and his ability to put pressure on Diaby will be a key factor in how the game shapes up.

An encouraging performance last weekend against City represented very good progress. The reality is that Liverpool will need another one on Sunday if they are to get their first league win under Brendan Rodgers. There are a number of decisions that the manager has to take relating to team selection and tactics before his team even gets on the pitch – then those key battles will unfold, and we can all get behind the team as it seeks to get the points on the board.

Find me on twitter @rossco1981
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