Morning all.
There’s something about football stadiums at night. For Arsenal fans, is there a better sight than The Emirates Stadium lit up in all its glory? I’d love to be inside the stadium tonight because I think the atmosphere is going to be electric. The reigning League Champions against a club which hopes, wants, to take their trophy from them in style. The Arsenal!
Mikel Arteta was asked what it feels like to have a huge crowd behind you:
> There’s nothing like it, I mean you become a different player, your emotional status is better, your energy level is better, your confidence is better, they drive you to get action without a lot of aggression, without a lot of determination and that lifts the whole team. So that’s what we have to provide tomorrow.
Slot’s side was lauded last season for winning the league, all with a little help from their PGMOL friends of course, but this season, well, things have been quite different for the Merseyside club.
Their multi million signings didn’t really hit the ground running although I read both Wirtz and Frimpong have got better but Isak,, well, he pick up a horrid injury and will out for a few more months. That’s the kind of bad luck we have had to deal with in the past. Timber and Merino spring to mind.
Slot is without a few other players tonight too. Salah is at ACON, Leoni and Endo are injured and Ekiteke is a doubt following a hamstring problem. One which keeps him out tonight I hope.
The fixture at Anfield was one by a single goal. A stunning free kick from Szoboszlai. Arsenal had 11 shots that day but only one was on target. Arteta was without Odegaard, Saka and after just five minutes, Saliba went off injured.
BBC football correspondent Phil McNulty, writing about the game:
> Liverpool go into the international break with maximum points from their three Premier League games – and still without demonstrating the full fluency they showed when they strolled to the title last season. It is a chilling thought for those, including the Arsenal side beaten at Anfield, who harbour hopes of wrestling away the crown they have now won on 20 occasions.
I know, it’s amusing isn’t it…
Adrian Clarke, writing in [the official matchday programme](https://programme.arsenal.com/product/arsenal-v-liverpool-wednesday-january-7):
_The champions have deployed a 4-2-3-1 for most of this season. Slot tends to use the width of the pitch to good effect, deploying a pair of fast attacking full-backs who are both encouraged to support wingers who prefer to cut inside onto their stronger foot._
_In essence, Liverpool’s head coach wants to control matches through possession, averaging a league-high 61.6%, but they are also a team that threatens on the counter, manufacturing an impressive 24 shots from counters, including three goals. When they score first, they are extremely difficult to beat, winning 10 times, drawing once and losing none after going 1-0 ahead._
_Defensively, they remain a strong pressing outfit who want to steal the ball in advanced areas, and have already scored six goals from high turnovers. It will be interesting to see if Liverpool commit to that high press in this fixture, or if they deploy a more conservative mid-pitch block instead, such as in our meeting last August._
_Set-pieces at both ends of the pitch have been a problem area. In attack, they have scored just three times from dead-ball situations – a joint division low – while inside their own box, the champions have conceded 12 times from set-plays – no one has leaked more._
The only injuries Arsenal have tonight are Mosquera, Calafiori and Dowman. That is unless anyone trips over in the shower or something else as freakish. Seriously though, we should have our strongest starting eleven starting tonight with a lot more strength to call on from the bench.
Regardless of how things have been going so far this season for tonight’s opponents, we cannot afford to underestimate them, not even with their absentees or because their defence has been pretty average. We just have to play our own game, start fast, get at that vulnerable defence and take our chances. As I always suggest, don’t give them an inch and certainly don’t give the officials an opportunity to ruin our chance of winning the game.
Both Man City and Aston Villa dropped two points last night, City at home against Brighton, Villa away at Crystal Palace. They will only help us though if we win tonight.
Let’s do this Arsenal…