Arsenal-Liverpool: Liverppol Will Win the Midfield Battle

Arsenal v Liverpool

This fixture is rarely a classic, and with both teams struggling to show their best at the moment, this is unlikely to be an exception. Arsenal will be favourites, but Liverpool’s away record is very good.

With Torres still injured, Liverpool are struggling to finish teams off, and this has been highlighted by the poor run of home draws. And with Keane proving, with four goals in 28 games playing alongside the brilliance and vision of Berbatov, that my Grandma could score 20 goals as season, he is making £20 million look like an expensive mistake.

The problem with Liverpool—and it is a well-established problem—is when teams from the wrong end of the table sit back and try to absorb pressure, Liverpool struggle to break them down. This is why their away form is better; teams tend to attack more when they are at home; this suits Liverpool’s counterattacking style.

I’ve been a season ticket holder at Anfield for years and have seen Steven Gerrard go from strength to strength within that time. There is no doubt he is an inspiration to the rest of the team with his work rate and knack of scoring important goals, unfortunately Liverpool rely on him too much.

There are a lot of good passers of the ball in the Liverpool team but when things are not going to plan everything goes through Gerrard. So the opposition just need a ball winning midfielder to mark him out of the game and they seem to run out of options.

Arsenal on the other hand, are going through an indifferent patch. I think the impact of Gallas’s comments about team morale and bullying have had a knock on effect, the English press pounced on this and the extra media attention seems to have undermined their confidence.

With injuries to key players, Arsenal have struggled to find consistency after a good start. They have sold two key midfield players and not really replaced them, and that has had an effect on the way they play.

Last season, Fabregas had a license to roam with Flamini doing all the donkey work in midfield, this gave one of Europe’s most creative midfielder’s time and space to make Arsenal tick.

I predict a marginal victory for Liverpool even though they don’t tend to do too well at Arsenal. Arsenal have had a lot of success against the strongest teams in the division this season but I just feel Liverpool’s midfield will be too strong.

Prediction:

Liverpool 2 -1 Arsenal

Gerrard            Adebayor

Kuyt

Russell Clarke

Southport

Merseyside

United Kingdom