Liverpool have made a good start to their Premier League campaign, winning one and drawing one, alongside winning two games in Europe. They will be targeting the top four again and one of their top four rivals, Arsenal, visit Anfield on Sunday.
Premier League – Anfield, Liverpool – Sunday 27 August, 16:00
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Draw Best Odd of: 13/5 at Betfred |
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Liverpool
ArsenalArsenal haven’t started as well, they were very lucky in their opening game to rescue three points from Leicester, and last weekend’s loss at Stoke was a disappointing afternoon for The Gunners.
As with any clash between two top six clubs, this game looks sure to be a very good one and with neither team outstanding in defence, it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw plenty of goals in the game.
Liverpool Form
Liverpool began this season with a thrilling 3-3 draw away at Watford. They will have been pleased to score three goals away from home, but conceding three is something they must work on. They did keep a clean sheet last weekend in their 1-0 home victory over Crystal Palace, but with Palace offering so little going forward, they never tested the Liverpool back line once.
In Europe, Liverpool have made it to the Champions League group stages after a 6-3 aggregate victory over German club Hoffenheim. They won 2-1 in Germany, before winning 4-2 at home this week. Liverpool will be pleased but those two games are another sign that they are not great at the back and could do with some help.
Despite their issues at the back, one area Liverpool do look good is going forward, scoring ten goals in their four competitive fixtures, all without Phillipe Coutinho who remains injured and is linked with a move to Barcelona. If Liverpool thought they would struggle without Coutinho, the rest of their players are making a strong case for them being fine without him.
Arsenal Form
It is only a huge slice of luck and a frantic five minute spell that has saved Arsenal from heading to Anfield with no points on the board. They were extremely lucky to get anything from the Leicester game and followed that up with a disappointing loss at Stoke last weekend.
After finishing 5th last season and dropping out of the top four, Arsenal probably have as much pressure on them this season as any other club in the top six. They are expected to fight back and their fans will not put up with what they have seen from their club so far. They have spent money on bringing striker Alexandre Lacazette to the club, but to me they look in desperate need of defensive help.
Arsenal have to find a way to pick themselves up and head to Anfield looking to win the game. This is a game against a team who are fighting for exactly the same thing and a win here would ease the nerves or many at the club.
Team News
Liverpool look like they don’t need Phillipe Coutinho at the minute, and the players who are contributing will need to do so if he does leave the club. The front three of Mane, Salah and Firmino has been very good so far, if those three click then Liverpool become a huge threat going forward, with or without Coutinho in the team.
I don’t think goals will be a problem for Arsenal looking at their line-up, but defending has to be a huge concern for Arsene Wenger. It isn’t the Arsenal way of doing business, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they went out and bought a defender in the final few days of the transfer window to try and fix their problems.
Top Betting Tips
Although these two are closely matched on paper, Liverpool are impressing me a lot more than Arsenal right now. That makes it easy to back Liverpool in this game and they are available at 23/20 with William Hill, a very fair price on their home ground.
Both teams have defensive problems, but away from home and against this exciting Liverpool front three, I can see Arsenal yet again struggling to defend and conceding goals. While Arsenal do have the ability to score, if they do manage to score I can see them conceding more because of the way they defend.
This should be a good game with plenty of scoring chances and hopefully plenty of goals but from a betting point of view there is only one team I can back. Liverpool have started well, they like to attack at home and against a vulnerable Arsenal defence, I am more than happy to back them at the 23/20 being offered by William Hill.