The new English Premier League season is almost under way and we are excited to see two giants of English football, Arsenal and Liverpool, clash with each other in the opening day fixture. Arsene Wenger led Arsenal and Jurgen Klopp inspired Liverpool will battle each other for three points in the Emirates Stadium on this Sunday afternoon, 4 pm BST, or 11 am EST.
Match Preview
Arsenal Vs. Liverpool is one of the fixtures in the Premier League that hardly disappoints the fans in terms of seeing an exciting football. Both teams have managers who want to win, exhibiting an expansive brand of football.
This summer both teams have bolstered themselves significantly by buying some exciting, big money signings. Arsenal have bought Granit Xhaka from German club Borrussia Monchengladbach for a fee around $40 million, and defender Rob Holding has also arrived from Bolton. Young Japanese striker Takuma Asano has also joined Arsenal, but many expect the 21-years-old to make loan move elsewhere in Europe. Although Arsenal fans are excited by the purchase these new players, there is a feeling of discontent among the Gooners due to club’s inability to buy a world-class center forward, who many believe can transcend Arsenal from a perennial top-four contenders to a champion.
Speaking in routine press conference, as per the Evening standard, the Arsenal manager said, “Everybody’s ambitious – never has the Premier League been gifted with so many ambitious people or clubs at the start of the season.”
“We have [Jose] Mourinho at Manchester United, [Antonio] Conte at Chelsea, [Pep] Guardiola at Man City, Klopp at Liverpool, so it’s a little bit a world championship of managers as well.”
Liverpool, meanwhile, have many reasons to be excited for the new season. Manager Jurgen Klopp begins his first full season as Liverpool FC supremo.
Klopp and his team have full preseason this time around unlike last season as he was brought into the club in the middle of last season after then manager Brendon Rodgers was sacked. Now with some experience and his ‘own’ team, strengthen by the signing of $45m Sadio Mane, Liverpool with be looking for none other than success this season.
Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp who was humble about his team chances of title this season said, “I never in my life made a decision about the line-up one week before the game because experience teaches you that everything can happen.”
“We will have 11 very good players on the pitch against Arsenal and we will have a very strong bench, I’m really sure. But at this moment I have no idea who is where.” the German added.
Unsurprisingly, Arsenal have been crippled by injuries to key players with defenders Per Mertesacker, Gabriel Paulista and striker Danny Welbeck certain to miss the opening game against Liverpool, according to the Soccerway. To cover the void left by the injuries, manager Wenger is desperate to bring new names in the club, with Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi and Manchester City striker Wilfred Bony rumoured to join Arsenal in the coming weeks.
Probable Line-ups
As per the Evening Standard, the predicted stating eleven of both teams are provided.
Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Chambers, Monreal, Gibbs; Xhaka, Coquelin; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Iwobi; Sanchez
Liverpool: Mignolet; Clyne, Lovren, Matip, Milner; Lallana, Can, Henderson; Mane, Firmino, Coutinho
Betting Odds ( via Paddypower)
Arsenal win: 7/5
Draw: 23/10
Liverpool win: 2/1
Both team to score: 4/6
Both team not to score: 11/10
Prediction
Arsenal will surely miss the absence of their core players, namely Mesut Ozil, Oliver Giroud, Laurent Kocielny and Per Mertesacker. In their absence, Wenger have to make some players operate out of their position, with Alexis Sanchez likely to lead the attack and Nacho Monreal is likely to be makeshift centerback in the absence of the experience duo of Kocielny and the giant German. However, against a very sharp Liverpool attack, as demonstrated by the recent thrashing of Barcelona in the Wembley, Liverpool can make Arsenal suffer due to inexperience of Arsenal’s main defenders. The acquisition of Sadio Mane gives another dimension to Liverpool, with the powerful striker can cause Arsenal’s defense problems with his pace and clever movements.
However, the positive point for Arsenal is that they will be playing in front of home supporters and this home advantage can help the London side to grind out a result. Considering all these factors, it will certainly be difficult to choose winner from Arsenal Vs. Liverpool; so the game is likely to become a stalemate.
Watch Live Streaming Online
To enjoy the football match Arsenal Vs. Liverpool, you can click the link provided here. You can also watch the game opening the link here if you reside in Indian subcontinent. The link will be updated just before the kick-off.
[Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images]