Arsenal v Liverpool - Match preview

Today at 4pm the FA Cup Fifth Round brings Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium to take on an Arsenal side still reeling from their 5-1 pasting at the hands of the visitors a week earlier. Since that result befell Arsene Wenger's team, the ramifications have been quite startling.

The Gooners went on to draw against what has become, a rather average Manchester United side, and then, Wenger found himself embroiled in yet another war of words with his Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho who labelled him a "specialist in failure" following another round of mind games initiated by the Alsacian's statement that Chelsea had "...the Premiership title to lose...". Arsenal and indeed Wenger himself will also find it hard to put to one side, the thought that after tomorrow's visit by Liverpool, they travel to Bavaria on Wednesday for their Champions League first leg knockout phase match against Bayern Munich who incidentally, currently lay a healthy 13 points clear atop the German Bundesliga. 

I can't help but feel that all of this plays into Liverpool's hands. One can't deny that Arsenal are in a turbulent period right now. Could this be the start of another infamous implosion brought about by the pressure of looking down at the rest of the Premiership? I don't believe there is as much pressure on Rodgers' charges as there is on Wenger's right now. I wouldn't even consider Liverpool to be favorites for today's match. I'm surprised that someone of Wenger's experience has managed to get himself and his team into this current predicament. Perhaps he's had a chat with an old friend of his, one Sir Alex Ferguson? Rodgers has done well to distance himself from the whole mind games fiasco and this will be of benefit to his team. The less distractions the better, and Wenger has a fair few right now. Mostly of his own making. 

For Liverpool to win, they need to take a different approach to last week. Wenger will be looking to "put things right with Liverpool" as he stated Friday and I think this leaves them only one option, and that's to attack and press the Reds as hard as they can from the off. Liverpool have shown against Everton that they are more than capable of playing a lethal counter attacking game and should be able to cope. That is, if Daniel Agger starts in place of Kolo Touré who's had a woeful time of late. 

The return of Agger to the heart of the defence will bring the much-needed stability and organization that's been missing during his absence. This is a certainty. In the seven games since Agger's injury, Liverpool have shipped nine goals and failed to keep a clean sheet since the 2-0 win against Bournmouth. This compares to conceding six in the last seven games where Agger was involved and the team kept three clean sheets. Bare in mind that four of those goals were against Manchester City and Chelsea, and you can see the difference he makes to the side. This is no coincidence and I don't think Rodgers needs to be reminded of this either. Perhaps he does need reminding that he should concentrate on bolstering the defense during the next transfer window. 

Other than that, I don't see any other changes to the Liverpool side. This game will be as much a mental test for both sides as it will be a physical one. Particularly for Arsenal. Their heads dropped massively against Liverpool last week and they appeared short on confidence against Man Utd during the week. If Liverpool can keep them in check for the first 20 minutes of each half, I don't see Arsenal having the mental resilience to wear the visitors down and, should they succeed to fail - to use a Mourinhoism - then one could even argue that they lost today's game already a week ago. 

We'll know everything by 6pm tonight. Will Brendan's men get rodgered, or will the Gooners be goners? I don't expect a high scoring game but then... Stranger things have happened. 

Follow me on Twitter: @Mrbengreen

Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal - Match Report

I'm da man!!

In the words of an old commentator "It's becoming a rout...!" And so it came to pass. It did today, with Liverpool giving Arsenal a good hiding at Anfield this afternoon. For the first 20 minutes, Brendan Rodgers' men were simply unplayable as they stormed into a 3-0 lead to leave the Gunners shell-shocked.

Two goals from set pieces by Martin Skrtel in the first and tenth minutes put Liverpool on their way, and from then on the writing was on the wall. The Reds pressed and harried the visitors and allowed them no time to settle. It's fair to say for the first half hour, it looked as if Liverpool would score with every attack as the visitors succumbed to wave after wave of attack. On 16 minutes, industrious play by Jordan Henderson winning the ball from Jack Wilshere to find Luis Suarez in space. The latter's low centre was met gratefully at the far post by the irrepressible and unmarked Raheem Sterling who slotted home to deliver a mountain for Arsene Wenger's men to climb if they were to salvage anything from the game.

Four minutes later, eagle-eyed Philippe Coutinho had the vision to slot an absolute slide-rule pass into the stride of Daniel Sturridge who broke from midfield between the two dozing Arsenal centre backs and notched up his 15th Premier League goal of the season. Poor Wojciech Szczesny could only look on as the ball bulged the back of his net for a fourth time. This was surely game over now for Arsenal. Liverpool's energetic tempo in midfield gave the visitors no hope of getting back into the game. Wilshere's frustration was clear to see as he tangled endlessly with Coutinho and the immense Steven Gerrard, excelling in his new role in front of the back four.

At the start of the second half, Arsenal showed some purpose to their game but it was clear to see from their body language that it was going to be a long, long drive back home to North London. Their heads had not only dropped, but squarely dragged on the lush green Anfield turf. It was against another half hearted Arsenal attack that the final nail into their coffin was dealt. Contrary to my assertion in the LFC File preview earlier, Aly Cissokho turned up for this match and was actually, "...all that". His forward clearance found the effervescent Sterling who controlled the ball neatly before stabbing home his second on the rebound from the on-rushing Szczesny - and effectively seal his man-of-the-match performance,. 

It was all over now. The fat lady didn't even have to open her mouth, let alone sing. The Kop cheered Liverpool's each pass as Wenger's men, bereft of ideas, chased the game to no avail. However, a clumsy challenge from captain Gerrard on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain inside the Red's area gave Mikel Arteta the chance to at least, spare Arsenal the ignominy of a complete whitewash. The penalty was greeted with cheers from both supporters. The Liverpool fans in keeping with their reputation for wit and sportsmanship!

So a good afternoon's work for Rodgers' men and a good result to set them up for their stay in London next week with away games at Fulham and, what will surely be a tasty FA Cup Fifth Round tie at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, following this result. The Reds have shown their promise today and I wouldn't even say this was their best performance of the season so far. The drubbings of Tottenham and Everton can't be overlooked either although given Arsenal's place at the top of the league one could argue as such. 

What I'd like to see though, is less of the kind of sloppy play that undone the side against West Bromwich Albion last week. As the teamtalk in Football Manager goes... "Why can't you play like this every week?"

Follow me on Twitter: @ Mrbengreen

Liverpool v Arsenal preview

Got some thinking to do...

In a few minutes from now Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool side host Premiership leaders Arsenal at Anfield, and like with every fixture between now and the 11th May, is a must win for the Reds.

It goes without saying that Liverpool have not done well against the teams above them in the league this season having taken a big fat zero points from the possible nine available from Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea. Cries of bad luck, poor refereeing aside, the final scoreline speaks for itself, and this is what matters. The biggest issue for Liverpool this season, in my opinion has been their defence. Shocking would not have been an understatement for many an occasion this season and this is something Rodgers must remedy.

I don't believe the inability to capture an obscure Ukrainian attacking midfielder in January to be the failure of Liverpool, but rather the lack of focussing on bringing in a competent defender to shore up the leaky back line. This is absolutely clear and I don't know what team observers are watching if they see missing out on signing Yehven Konoplyanka as the death knell for Liverpool's season. Only Man City have scored more goals than Liverpool so far this term thus the attacking element in the side does not appear to be the burning issue. The fact that they've shipped more goals than the rest of the top five sides is.

The one saving grace for Liverpool is that all the losses against the top teams have come away from home and the chance to play the top three sides in front of their own fans is definitely an advantage. I for one am expecting much more from the Reds at Anfield and let's hope the side give the fans - and themselves for that matter - something to be proud of. I'm not particularly bothered about the performance if I'm honest. The primary aim against the top sides must be to get the result. Point. These are the kind of games that will shape Rodgers fate and determine whether this season is a mere flash in the pan or a genuine 'Phoenix from the ashes' scenario.

Personally, I'd like to see Jon Flanagan and Martin Kelly starting as the full backs to give the team a bit more 'bite'. I don't think Aly Cissokho has been all that from what I've seen of him. There is certainly no room for the kind of mistake that Kolo Touré made to gift West Bromwich Albion an equaliser in the last fixture. For the midfield and attack, business as usual.

A win for Liverpool would give them 50 points and a five point cushion over Everton who have a difficult away trip to a resurgent Tottenham tomorrow - Not to mention three points behind Chelsea and Man City who occupy third and second respectively. Let's hope in a couple of hours we're talking about three points gained instead of two thrown away, or worse still, three given away.

Follow me on Twitter: @ Mrbengreen