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

Tusky

Unearthly wrote: »

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

Such a strange comment. Arsenal should hammer Liverpool but youre going for a Liverpool win ?

SlickRic

leninbenjamin wrote: »

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.

i know you didn't say it, but it is a prevailing opinion.

he is liable to naturally get dragged out position due to his attacking nature, absolutely. and that's something we'll have to be wary of on the counter attack.

leninbenjamin

Tusky wrote: »

Such a strange comment. Arsenal should hammer Liverpool but youre going for a Liverpool win ?

That's what I've been arguing too.

Arsenal are a better all round team on paper. They have width and creativity in abundance, two things Liverpool really lack. And while without RVP they don't have the same goal threat as pool, they have a better defence (albiet somewhat marginal) and an ability to dominate possession which could cause Gerrard in particular to struggle to impose himself.

But their heads aren't right, they bottle it when the pressure is on them, make loads of individual mistakes, and that is why they will probably lose again today.

Quandary

Id expect Liverpool to raise their game for this one & grind out a win by the odd goal with a bit of luck - like Utd did against Arsenal at OT this year. No Van P is a big plus for Liverpool.

Pool to win 2-1. Kuyt goal and Gerrard peno with possibly a Fabregas free kick! im off to Paddy Power to put the savings on it

Spiritoftheseventies

Quandary wrote: »

Id expect Liverpool to raise their game for this one & grind out a win by the odd goal with a bit of luck - like Utd did against Arsenal at OT this year. No Van P is a big plus for Liverpool.

Pool to win 2-1. Kuyt goal and Gerrard peno with possibly a Fabregas free kick! im off to Paddy Power to put the savings on it

Rafa will be busy scribbling on his clip board as usual, Wenger will be sent off with five mins to go and Aquilani and Rafa will exhange awkward glances before Rafa brings him on with a minute to go.

Beau x1

Arsenal fan here, bets on:

€5 Fabregas first goal
€5 Vermaelen first goal
€5 Arshavin first goal
€5 Arsenal to win from behind

Providing Arsenal don't bottle this it's ours.

flahavaj

Beau x1 wrote: »

Arsenal fan here, bets on:

€5 Fabregas first goal
€5 Vermaelen first goal
€5 Arshavin first goal
€5 Arsenal to win from behind

Providing Arsenal don't bottle this it's ours.

LOL rather big "if" there.

Jako8

I'm gonna say 2 - 1 to Liverpool.

Aquilani, Torres and Gallas to score.

JerryHandbag

Liverpool always raise it against the bigger teams, dont see why that should change today.

3-2, Torres with a couple.

SlickRic

Beau x1 wrote: »

Providing Arsenal don't bottle this it's ours.

a bit disrespectful no?

i love this endless condition that for liverpool to win any of these big games, it has to mean the other team 'bottling' it or not showing up.

we might just play better than you.

monkey9

I've put twenty euro on Torres to score the first goal at 4/1 and another twenty euro on Torres to score the first goal and Liverpool to win 2-1 at 30/1

Spiritoftheseventies

monkey9 wrote: »

I've put twenty euro on Torres to score the first goal at 4/1 and another twenty euro on Torres to score the first goal and Liverpool to win 2-1 at 30/1

why dont you just throw caution to wind and put £40 on either bet. I think he will score during the game so would lay heavily on that.

cson

SlickRic wrote: »

a bit disrespectful no?

i love this endless condition that for liverpool to win any of these big games, it has to mean the other team 'bottling' it or not showing up.

we might just play better than you.

Ah, bit of banter before the match

JPA

SlickRic wrote: »

a bit disrespectful no?

i love this endless condition that for liverpool to win any of these big games, it has to mean the other team 'bottling' it or not showing up.

we might just play better than you.

The fickle and reactionary nature of football fans means the only image they have of Liverpool is the Liverpool of this season and that is not a very good image. Win 2 or 3 games playing well, and everything will change.

leninbenjamin

SlickRic wrote: »

a bit disrespectful no?

i love this endless condition that for liverpool to win any of these big games, it has to mean the other team 'bottling' it or not showing up.

we might just play better than you.

You have a bit of a habit of reading every post here as anti-Pool regardless of context to be fair.

I'm an Arsenal fan. We bottled it against City. We bottled it against United. We bottled it against Chelsea. Against City and United the game was ours to lose, we outplayed them in almost all areas. Even the Chelsea match we were in total control for much of the game, but everytime we got near their goal the pass was wayward. Going back a bit, the league 07-08 was ours to win we had such a lead. But we bottled it. This current generation of Arsenal have bottled almost every opportunity they've been given.

So when someone calls Arsenal bottlers I can guarantee you it has absolutely nothing to do with their opinion of Liverpool.

NukaCola

Beau x1 wrote: »

Providing Arsenal don't bottle this it's ours.

Arsenal tend to "bottle it" playing the other top 3 teams alright.
Arsenal will not win today though, might snatch a sneaky point....

SlickRic

cson wrote: »

Ah, bit of banter before the match

oh i know.

sure i might just switch it round then.

sure providing Liverpool don't bottle it, they should win, as usual. wenger's record at Anfield is poor, and it will take us on a bad day for them to win.

NukaCola

Unearthly wrote: »

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

WTF?

flahavaj

All this talk of bottles is making me thirsty.

A draw again.

leninbenjamin

flahavaj wrote: »

All this talk of bottles is making me thirsty.

hmmmm... i really really would like a bottle of Asahi right now

SlickRic

leninbenjamin wrote: »

You have a bit of a habit of reading every post here as anti-Pool regardless of context to be fair.

it was in the context of a 'Liverpool v Arsenal' thread.

of course that's how i'll take it.

and his line was 'if we don't bottle it, it's ours'. hence arsenal win this game if they play well. liverpool are automatically encompassed in that comment.

i think i'm probably one of the least sensitive on these boards, and my deduction was perfectly fair in this instance.

NukaCola

CHD wrote: »

0-0

Hmmm, 4-4 all last season not tempt you to predict a goalfest?

3-1

TheSpecialOne

Arsenal to win 3-1...Gallas,Fabregas And Eduardo!Heard it here first;)

flahavaj

leninbenjamin wrote: »

hmmmm... i really really would like a bottle of Asahi right now

boards.ie Soccer Forum........driving people to drink.:pac:

Sir Gallagher

leninbenjamin wrote: »

You have a bit of a habit of reading every post here as anti-Pool regardless of context to be fair.

I'm an Arsenal fan. We bottled it against City. We bottled it against United. We bottled it against Chelsea. Against City and United the game was ours to lose, we outplayed them in almost all areas. Even the Chelsea match we were in total control for much of the game, but everytime we got near their goal the pass was wayward. Going back a bit, the league 07-08 was ours to win we had such a lead. But we bottled it. This current generation of Arsenal have bottled almost every opportunity they've been given.

So when someone calls Arsenal bottlers I can guarantee you it has absolutely nothing to do with their opinion of Liverpool.

Sounds like Arsenal could do with the services of this man!

Jako8

TheSpecialOne wrote: »

Arsenal to win 3-1...Gallas,Fabregas And Eduardo!Heard it here first;)

Eduardo is out AFAIK.

From Arsenal.com:

Eduardo (thigh) had not quite recovered from his injury

hudsonriver

3 - 2 Arsenal, pool taking the lead twice

Frisbee

For everyone predicting an Eduardo goal he's injured...

flahavaj

flahavaj wrote: »

boards.ie Soccer Forum........driving people to drink.:pac:

driving many over the edge!

mayordenis

I'm hoping for

Reina
Johnson
Carragher
Agger
Insua
Kuyt
Masch
Lucas
Aurelio
Gerrard
Torres

leninbenjamin

SlickRic wrote: »

and his line was 'if we don't bottle it, it's ours'. hence arsenal win this game if they play well. liverpool are automatically encompassed in that comment.

That's the point though. As an Arsenal fan, watching them week in week out we should be top of the league but for a couple of individual errors and a few wayward passes.

People watch the highlights reel, see Drogba puttin it past Almunia and then Arshavin passing to nobody and think Arsenal are sh*t. What you don't see are the other 20 odd matches in the season where Arshavin creates a goal from the same situation. Or they'll watch Cesc/Nasri being easily beaten off the ball and not see him being in the same situation the week previously where he turned the man, cut inside and left him for dead.

I know fans of other teams think this is an incredibly elitist attitude, but it's the damn truth. Arsenal are technically superior to every other team in the Premership. Cesc can pass better than Lampard/Gerrard, RVP can score with the frequency of Torres (when fit of course), Arshavin can win as many matches single-handedly as Drogba does for Chelsea. Vermaelen can go in as hard as Vidic/Terry. Gallas can tackle like Carvalho. But seeing as you guys are used to only watching Arsenal bottle it you don't see the winning side to their game as much.

People often point to the weakness of set pieces, or the slight stature of the midfield but it's all a bit moot tbh as 99% of the time they compensate brilliantly for it. Arsenal's problems are all in their heads. They are such a different team when the pressure is on them it's startling. Even say in an unimportant game, 1-0 up and 10 mins to go. The creativity goes from them, the drive to win is absent, they become afraid to pass for fear of giving away possession, they just don't seem to communicate and they look like a group of individuals who just don't want to be there. The scale and swiftness of the change is startling, depressing and completely baffling.

Might as well set themselves up as a drinks company

Sir Gallagher

leninbenjamin wrote: »

That's the point though. As an Arsenal fan, watching them week in week out we should be top of the league but for a couple of individual errors and a few wayward passes.

Reminds me of the phrase "If only my aunty had bollocks she'd be my uncle."

Beau x1

SlickRic wrote: »

a bit disrespectful no?

i love this endless condition that for liverpool to win any of these big games, it has to mean the other team 'bottling' it or not showing up.

we might just play better than you.

Not really, I view Arsenal when they play to their full potential capable of trashing anyone in the Premier League. Unfortunately, they very seldom do this, especially when it's come to the big games this season.

I'm confident today if we play well today and Liverpool replicate their under achieving performance as of this season then Arsenal are going to destroy you. :pac:

You could do the same to us, but I'm an optimist and I'd like the football spirit for my team to stay with me. Big games are exciting and I'm 100% behind my team for this one, just like any other match. Yes I'm completely biased, but I'm not saying Liverpool is **** and incapable of claiming a win or even taking the piss out of us today, but **** c'mon Arsenal.

EDIT: 777th post. Lucky 7's. Goodbye, Liverpool.

NukaCola

Arsenal are an excellent team with excellent players and an excellent manager. They play great football.

However they dont grind out as much results as they should. They dont know how to win ugly.

Thats why Arsenal aren't top of the league.
A prime example of this is when they played ManU.
Played them off the park, couldn't grind out the result.

NukaCola

Beau x1 wrote: »

I'm confident today if we play well today and Liverpool replicate their under achieving performance as of this season then Arsenal are going to destroy you. :pac:

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

"If only my aunty had bollocks she'd be my uncle."

:pac:
Exactly

ButcherOfNog

Liverpool will score at least 3 today, Torres will cause the Arsenel defence lots of problems, however Liverpool need to keep Arsenal from scoring in order to win. It won't be a low scoring game.

NukaCola

leninbenjamin wrote: »

The scale and swiftness of the change is startling, depressing and completely baffling.

Poet?

Arsenal as i said are a very good team and i believed had a great chance to win the league, but since VP is out and you lack an out and out goalscorer i think Arsenal will struggle to keep pace with chelsea.

Imagine the damage Torres would do playing in an Arsenal side, for example.

Still think Arsenal will do very well this season.

Beau x1

Well lads, first stop paddypower, second stop the pub.

Good luck to us Arsenal and Liverpool fans alike. This will be a great game, I'm sure.

mormank

leninbenjamin wrote: »

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...



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.

well isnt that exactly what torres has been doing all season? slotting straight back in a being the difference in most games..so yeah i do think torres will slot straight back in...it is stevie's form i more worry about..

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres.

Subs: Cavalieri, Aquilani, Insua, Ngog, Degen, Skrtel, Dossena.

Finally a full strength team. No excuses today.

mike65

1512: TEAMS Liverpool v Arsenal
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres.

Subs: Cavalieri, Aquilani, Insua, Ngog, Degen, Skrtel, Dossena.


Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Traore, Fabregas, Song Billong, Denilson, Walcott, Arshavin, Nasri.

Subs: Fabianski, Diaby, Eduardo, Vela, Ramsey, Silvestre, Wilshere.

Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire)

mayordenis

4 defenders on our bench super

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Pretty much as expected from both sides. Hopefully Walcott can sort his touch out from the other day, strong enough bench for Arsenal.

Kess73

rarnes1 wrote: »

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres.

Subs: Cavalieri, Aquilani, Insua, Ngog, Degen, Skrtel, Dossena.

Pretty much the expected first team, with Fabio in for Insua to negate the threat of Walcott if he is on the Arsenal right. That is a bench lacking in invention though bar Aquilani.

After seeing the team I shall be sticking with my 3-1 to Liverpool prediction.

I'm glad Insua has been given a rest, he's overdue one.

I'd be suprised if we lost today with that team tbh.

mayordenis

mayordenis wrote: »

4 defenders on our bench super

I count 3. I don't class Dossena as a defender, and if he does come on I bet it's left midfield.

Frisbee

Can't believe Walcott is starting, he was very poor the other night and this is hardly the game to throw him back into...

mink_man

hopefully 1-1 with fabregas not to score...