Liverpool vs. Arsenal 13/12/09 (MOD NOTE: #119 and OP)

Frisbee

MOD NOTE - Please read

VS.
Sunday 13th. December @ 16.00

Big game for both teams, both needing a win to stay in touch at the top.

Guess at the Arsenal XI:

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Almunia

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Sagna

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Vermaelen----Gallas

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Traore

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Song

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Denilson

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Fabregas

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Nasri

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Vela

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Arshavin


I'm thinking though that Arshavin will start up front with Walcott on the right and Nasri on the left maybe...

Daysha

Draw written all over it imo. 1-1.

MementoMori

My guess at the line-up is below.

Can't see Rafa starting Aquilani given he's not up to playing 90 minutes.
I would be hopeful that he would be in line for a sub appearance.

Some talk Insua might be rested in which case Aurelio would come in but if I had to guess I'd go for Insua possibly getting a rest next weekend.

Babel is doubtful so I would have Benayoun on the left ahea of Riera.

Overall it looks like the strongest squad we've been able to name all season, so I'd be hopeful of a good performance.

Torres looked very lively in the midweek game and I would be expecting him to notch. Defensively I'll be hoping for a clean sheet but it will be a case of hoping as opposed to expecting. Fingers crossed for 3-0 to Liverpool.

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Reina

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--Johnson

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Carra----Agger

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Insua--

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Masch

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Lucas

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Kuyt

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Gerrard

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Benayoun

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Torres

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Subs: Cavalieri, Skrtel, Aurelio, Aquilani, Riera, El Zhar, N'gog

mike65

Looks about right, Liverpool have to get at Arsenal like they did Utd, they don't like it up 'em. Give them time and space and the Gunners can prevail.

jesus_thats_gre

Liverpool to win this me thinks.

magma69

Lunacy on my part here but I honestly think Liverpool will win this one. I don't have too much reason to believe so but I think they will perform as they did against Utd tomorrow and win the game out of sheer effort and grit not allowing Arsenal to pass the ball around.

Redzer7

Think Arsenal will edge this by a goal or two, Liverpool are due a win thogh.

Kess73

MementoMori wrote: »

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Reina

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--Johnson

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Carra----Agger

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Insua--

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Masch

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Lucas

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Kuyt

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Gerrard

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Benayoun

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Torres

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Subs: Cavalieri, Skrtel, Aurelio, Aquilani, Riera, El Zhar, N'gog

That looks a likely line up, only chance would be Riera from the subs bench as I think he is injured.

After the results of today so far, this is a massive game for Liverpool and Arsenal in terms of a chance to gain ground on rivals.

Will be goals in this game methinks, 3-1 to Liverpool is my shout.

Frisbee

I'm gonna guess 2-1 Liverpool..

cson

Sods law to all the above posts warrants a 3-0 demolition job by Arsenal.

I like sod's law. :cool:

Bandit12

You just can't call this one tbh. At a guess 2-2.

Fuhrer

Arsenal should walk this


But you never know>..<

jesus_thats_gre

cson wrote: »

Sods law to all the above posts warrants a 3-0 demolition job by Arsenal.

I like sod's law. :cool:

It's sod's law that makes be believe that Liverpool being absolutely ****e in the past 13 games (except the United match) means they will beat Arsenal. Just one of things that tends to happen.

Le King

I'll go for 3-0 Arsenal. Liverpool looking like the average top half club all year and long may it continue.

Holsten

Liverpool really need to win this one now!

But I don't see that happening.

2-1 to Arsenal, with the winner coming from a corner/set piece.

G1032

I'm going for an Arsenal win here. After the two poor results from Chelsea and United today, Arsenal need to take advantage. Liverpool are in appalling form too and Arsenal will be well up for it. 2-1 to The Arsenal

tony1kenobi

magma69 wrote: »

Lunacy on my part here but I honestly think Liverpool will win this one.

I think you are right.I can see Liverpool turning over Arsenal tomorrow.

Either that or 4-4.

The Muppet

Really looking forward to this one, both teams really need to win this to close the gap on those above. On form I'd go for arsenal to nick it.

bUILDERtHEbOB

Todays results have made this game even more interesting, an Arsenal win puts them flying right into the title race again(assuming they win their game in hand) and a Liverpool win would put them in a very strong position in the race for a top 4 position, despite the poor start.

flahavaj

Liverpool win here, more esasily than expected I'd say. They'll be too physical for Arsenal.

killwill

Both teams badly need a win here and I reckon we will see a 2-2 draw. Torres and Gerrard getting on the sheet for Liverpool. Fabregas to get 2 for Arsenal, one being a penalty!!!!

dfx-

0-2

Vermaelen from a set-piece after 14 minutes. Lots of gusto and pressure with little end product. A controversial offside later, Eduardo breaks away and makes it two after 78 minutes. Therefore leaving a nice 14 minutes for the obituaries to be written early.

And this thread to be a bomb site after today's result...




Maybe.

Glico Man

With the way Liverpool's season has gone I can only see a win for the pool

Torres to score and Aquaman to score late on

Mr.Nice Guy

I can see Liverpool winning this one via a Gerrard free kick or penalty.

Sherifu

Stevie G to get us over the line kicking & screaming.

blindpilot

Liverpool for me too. Not entirely sure why seeing as they've been poor, but at home against one of the top sides, it might get the performance out of the team. Time will tell but I'll say 2-1 Pool.

DazMarz

Can see this being a draw... Really hope Liverpool win tho.

2-2 is what my head is saying

curry-muff

For the sake of good football i hope arsenal win :rolleyes:

SlickRic

curry-muff wrote: »

For the sake of good football i hope arsenal win :rolleyes:

so you hope that every time arsenal take the field?

they play prettier football than everyone bar barcelona.

RasTa

Sadly Liverpool will win.

dannydiamond

The results today have made this fixture even more interesting. 'Pool win or a draw,it'll be tight I reckon.A big performance from Masch could tilt it.

mayordenis

Liverpool to win with Gerrard being ineffectual, Agger, Kuyt and maybe Johnson on the scoresheet. Just to STFU the cretins.

therokerroar

Liverpool will win, the fans will be claiming their luck has changed and that Rafa is once again a Messiah, only to then fail to beat Wigan on Wednesday and for eternal doom to set in once again.

Liverpool 2-1 Arsenal.

mayordenis

Nah we'll win both.

SlickRic

therokerroar wrote: »

Rafa is once again a Messiah

i really take exception to this perception of Liverpool fans.

bar maybe one or 2 in the forum, and they probably do it because of the endless attacking of the club by rival fans, nobody thinks he's any sort of Messiah or can do no wrong.

he gets plenty wrong, but has also gotten plenty right.

but whenever we higlight his wrongdoings we're 'realistic', and whenever we highlight what he's gotten right we're 'fanboys' or we think he can do no wrong.

it's gas.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Both need a win. Neither are on great form, I'd say it'll be 1-1, Torres with a typical Torres goal, killer pass from Gerrard and Torres in behind all the defenders and lift it over the goalkeeper and Vermaelen to score from a corner.

MementoMori

Edit: Oops wrong thread post

Anyway Nando is back and looked uber-lively midweek, so I'm confident.

Spiritoftheseventies

I think Pool need to push on now. Torres is back so we should expect him to be knocking in the goals. Another high scoring game for me. 5-4 to the Pool

CHD

0-0

leninbenjamin

Arsenal should win this on paper. You'd fancy Song and Vermaelen to neutralise the Gerrard-Torres threat they way they've been playing this season, and Johnson and Insua aren't the best in terms of positioning so I'd fancy Arshavin and Nasri to have a lot of joy against them. Mascherano v Fabregas is harder to call, but if Masch sticks close to Cesc that gives the likes of Arshavin/Nasri/Denilson more room to play in...

Sadly though all the above is moot. Arsenal haven't had their head's screwed on in the big matches this season so a Liverpool win is more likely.

mormank

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Arsenal should win this on paper. You'd fancy Song and Vermaelen to neutralise the Gerrard-Torres threat they way they've been playing this season, and Johnson and Insua aren't the best in terms of positioning so I'd fancy Arshavin and Nasri to have a lot of joy against them. Mascherano v Fabregas is harder to call, but if Masch sticks close to Cesc that gives the likes of Arshavin/Nasri/Denilson more room to play in...

Sadly though all the above is moot. Arsenal haven't had their head's screwed on in the big matches this season so a Liverpool win is more likely.

do you really think song and vermaelen will neutalise torres and gerrard?? really?? just like that...

im gonna go for a liverpool win, 3-1. gerrard, torres, masch! oh and captain fabulous...

SlickRic

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Arsenal should win this on paper. You'd fancy Song and Vermaelen to neutralise the Gerrard-Torres threat they way they've been playing this season, and Johnson and Insua aren't the best in terms of positioning so I'd fancy Arshavin and Nasri to have a lot of joy against them.

ah here...

insua's poor positional sense, i'll give you.

but johnson's been our best defender when fit.

arshavin has been generally poor this season, by his own admission, so on form he won't get tons of joy. he is likely to put in a performance at some point though, so i do remain worried.

Song and Vermaelen to nullify the Gerrard-Torres threat, on paper?

you having a laugh?

Song has been decent, yes. but he's shown nothing exceptional.

Vermaelen's scored a few goals but has generally looked very ordinary alongside Gallas.

i would expect, on paper, Gerrard and Torres to have a lot of joy against them. this is obviously temepered by the fact they're only recently back from injury though.

this game couldn't be harder to call.

i'm going to stick my neck out for a 2-1, and hope that our physical presence will maybe prove the key factor. plus nando.

leninbenjamin

mormank wrote: »

do you really think song and vermaelen will neutalise torres and gerrard?? really?? just like that...

Well do you really think Torres will slot straight back into the team and win matches after struggling so long with injuries? Gerrard hasn't been his usual self either recently, whereas Song in particular has arguably been Arsenal's only source of consistency all season. So i don't think it's too remote a possibility.

But if you read the rest of my post, you'd realise I said Liverpool were gonna win...

SlickRic wrote: »

but johnson's been our best defender when fit.

that's not exactly a difficult achievement this season

and Arshavin has been inconsistent, but he's still been a big source of goals and assists. He can play utterly sh*te all match then make the pass that wins the game... bit like Gerrard in that respect.

SlickRic

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Well do you really think Torres will slot straight back into the team and win matches after struggling so long with injuries?

did you see him wednesday?

he made a mockery of kuyt's efforts, and made a mockery of fiorentina's defence in the 30 short minutes he was there.

even at 70-80%, he'll be more than a handful.

ask vidic.

leninbenjamin

SlickRic wrote: »

made a mockery of fiorentina's defence in the 30 short minutes he was there.

a) Liverpool still lost that match
b) see the bit in bold

edit: I don't know why I'm even responding to these comments though... I did say it was only on paper. I'm not actually trying to argue Arsenal will win.

SDTimeout

I think arsh will break his nike pledge this game

It's going to be tight and i think our hopes rest on three people. Armand Traore to be consistant on the defence side of things as his attacking is good. Vermalen to keep torres quiet all match which i think he shall. And Alex song to break up the midfield like the brick wall that he is.

2-1 Arsenal today, mainly because i can't see us NOT leaking one goal.

Unearthly

Arsenal should hammer Liverpool, but Liverpool game raise for these games so I'm gonna go for a Liverpool win.

SlickRic

leninbenjamin wrote: »

that's not exactly a difficult achievement this season

it's not. but it does make it a farce that he's still a mediocre defender in some people's eyes. everyone else has been worse defensively; bar maybe Agger at a push.

leninbenjamin wrote: »

and Arshavin has been inconsistent, but he's still been a big source of goals and assists. He can play utterly sh*te all match then make the pass that wins the game... bit like Gerrard in that respect.

true.

i think Gerrard tends to have a greater influence over the course of a game, but your point does stand. they're both capable of those bolts out of the blue.

SlickRic

Unearthly wrote: »

Arsenal should hammer Liverpool

both teams on their best day, it's the flip of a coin.

JPA

5-5 draw please, with 5 from Vermaelen and 5 assists from Fabregas, for entertainments sake of course. Yes, that's it...

leninbenjamin

SlickRic wrote: »

it's not. but it does make it a farce that he's still a mediocre defender in some people's eyes. everyone else has been worse defensively; bar maybe Agger at a push.

I never said that. And i don't believe he's a mediocre defender either. If you'll go back 2 or 3 years in my post history you'll see posts about me talking about how underrated Johnson is when he was stuck on the bench at Chelsea and most pool fans wouldn't want to know him.

But that doesn't eliminate the possibility that he has a few weaknesses, all players do. Imo Johnson's adventurous play let's him get dragged out of position (it's the reason José never liked him), and I think it's something that will be exposed more as the season goes on as he hasn't played in that many 'big' matches so far to be fair. He's still young enough that he can get it out of his game, but at the moment he's someone who can be got at. Kuyt will protect him a lot of course over the game, but some careful overlapping play from a fullback and winger can leave him very flat footed.