View of the opposition: Gunners have enough pedigree to conquer Anfield

Arsenal travel to Merseyside to face Liverpool in a crunch Barclays Premier League tie on Wednesday night.

The Gunners are currently at the top of the table and two points clear of surprise package Leicester and three points clear of Manchester City. They have won 5 out of their last 6 Premier League games, which underlines their credentials as a proper title contender this time out, and they are one of the favourites to possibly win it come the end of season.

Let’s take a look at how Arsenal are formidable in their play and how they have enough in them to conquer Liverpool away at Anfield.

We will look at the formation and analyze movements on and off the ball :

With injuries to Coquelin, Cazorla and Sanchez, this was the general setup with which Arsenal played most of their festive games and won. We will mainly concentrate on the movement of their fullbacks and role of their holding midfielder in that context, we will also take a look at the role Ozil plays in this team.

Bellerin and Monreal love to go on thr overlap, allowing both Campbell and Walcott to cut inside and be a presence around the penalty area. Flamini’s role comes into play here, he comes in between the center-backs enabling Mertesacker and Koscielny to be a bit wider, it means that the center-backs are the one who cover up for their full-backs.

Now, Ramsey also plays a very critical role in the team which is termed as roaming play-maker, he doesn’t have any primary work, his job is to join the midfield and attack when in possession, come back and defend astutely when needed.

Ozil is the number 10 and the main man for Arsenal’s revival this season, as he knits almost all the attacks and is directly or indirectly involved in 85% of Arsenal’s goals this season. His movement is pivotal, and he looks to find space in between a center-back and a full-back. He makes space for Ramsey to run into and be unmarked; he tracks back also whenever needed.

Ramsey and Flamini help their full-backs while Ozil tracks back centrally in attempt to block the runs of opposition midfielder.

Giroud’s aerial threat is always a plus in the Gunner’s favor, as are his runs into the channels and hold up play to allow runners to run beyond him. This is what makes him dangerous and effective.

The good thing in this Arsenal side is that each player know their jobs, they don’t venture anything extra apart from their assigned duty. This helps in cohesiveness and creates a balanced nature within the team.

In Petr Cech they have one of the best goalkeepers of the world, which really helps in bringing the defensive aspect of their game up to the mark.

Wenger’s men look a formidable lineup even with injuries to key players; they have a certain style and guile in their play which can upstage Liverpool. But they can also play the dirty way if needed and can nurture a result.

They are the current League leaders and it’s up to them to take the game to Liverpool even though they are away from home and will, for me, go to Anfield as favourites.