Arsenal travel to league leaders Liverpool on Saturday, with the ominous task of trying to bounce back from a draw against Brighton by getting a result against the most in-form team in the country.
Clearly, Unai Emery will want to go full strength at Anfield, as anything less will make it pretty much impossible to get a result. There are still a number of injuries for him to deal with though, with multiple formations possible depending on who is available, so it’s not entirely straightforward.
Let’s have a look at our predicted lineup for the clash (that was written before it was announced that Mesut Ozil would be staying at home with a ‘knee’ injury):
Goalkeeper and Defence
Shkodran Mustafi is the key piece of the puzzle in defence. If he’s available, Arsenal may well go for three at the back, with Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Laurent Koscielny starting alongside the German. However, considering he couldn’t even make the squad against Brighton, we don’t expect him to be starting against Liverpool three days later.
As a result, Unai Emery still doesn’t have enough centre-backs to make a back-three work, so a back-four seems more likely. Koscielny and Sokratis should start in the middle, with Sead Kolasinac keeping his place on the left, as Nacho Monreal is also struggling with injury and the Bosnian defender in good form.
On the right, Hector Bellerin is still out, and Stephan Lichtsteiner performed terribly against Brighton, playing the full 90 minutes. Therefore, it makes the most sense for Ainsley Maitland-Niles to start at right-back.
In goal, Bernd Leno should start over Petr Cech once again.
Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI
Midfield
Lucas Torreira managed to avoid a yellow card against Brighton, fortunately. As a result, he’s available to start this one, and it doesn’t seem like there’s any reason not to include him after his consistently impressive performances this season.
Alongside him, Granit Xhaka will start. Xhaka is a key feature of Unai Emery’s teams, just like he was with Arsene Wenger’s. The only question is whether he starts at the back or in midfield, but playing him as a centre-back hasn’t been helping Arsenal at either end recently, so we’ll optimistically put him down as a midfielder.
Matteo Guendouzi struggled against Brighton, and perhaps this is a good time to give him a rest. There are plenty of games coming up over the next few weeks, and Liverpool at Anfield isn’t one you want to use to play your way back into form.
As a result, Aaron Ramsey is the best option to come into the team. Mohamed Elneny is another alternative, but he performed just as poorly against Burnley as Guendouzi did against Brighton.
Click ‘Next’ for Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI
Forwards
It’s pretty difficult to make an argument for leaving out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alexandre Lacazette on Saturday. The former is the league’s top scorer, with three goals in his last two games. He opened his tally against the big six earlier this month with a brace against Spurs, and he’ll be looking to keep building on that now.
The latter scored the winner in that game against Spurs, as well as forcing an ‘own goal’ against Manchester United and equalising against Liverpool in the reverse of this fixture. He also assisted Aubameyang’s last two goals.
To complete the front three, Mesut Özil should start. Whatever Unai Emery was trying by taking him off for the second half against Brighton, it backfired completely. Arsenal managed one blocked shot in the entire 45 minutes, after six shots and four on target with the German on the pitch.
Özil needs to come back in and start as he did against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.
Click ‘Next’ for the full Predicted Starting XI
Predicted Starting XI
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Arsenal vs Liverpool Betting Tips
Arsenal and Liverpool have both scored at least one goal in nine of the last 11 matches between the two sides. Bet on both teams to score with 138.co.uk at 6/10.
There have been at least four goals in Anfield clashes between Arsenal and Liverpool on each of the last five occasions. Bet on over 3.5 goals with 138.co.uk at 6/5.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the Premier League’s top scorer, with three goals in his last two games. His last goal against Liverpool came in the first 10 minutes of the match, and he opened the scoring against both Burnley and Brighton. Bet on Aubameyang to score first with 138.co.uk at 11/2.
Prediction: Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal (15/2 with 138.co.uk).