Liverpool vs Arsenal betting preview

Liverpool Form: DDWLW

Last Sunday’s 2 – 2 draw with Manchester City will give Brendan Rodger’s men a major boost of confidence heading into this encounter; despite an unfortunate late equaliser being gifted to the Champions after an error from Martin Skrtel, Liverpool largely outplayed City and were well worth three points. Still though, Rodgers will take positives from his sides performance, particularly 17 year old starlet Raheem Sterling who was given a surprise start on the left wing. A slightly understrength Reds side also narrowly squeezed past a determined Hearts team in the Europa League in mid week – fans will be delighted to have European football back on Merseyside, even if it is not the Champions League just yet. Check out the free bets available for the game here.

Liverpool began the season with a shocking 3 – 0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion, with defenders Daniel Agger and Skrtel surprisingly poor in the loss. Agger will return on Sunday after being sent off in that game. Last season, they were two of the best centre backs in the league and Liverpool will need them to start performing again if they are to keep out an Arsenal team determined to score it’s first goal of the season. Up front, Suarez has been his usual self; never giving defenders time to settle and showing he is capable of moments of brilliance, however it is questionable whether he is a good finisher, with numerous chances being squandered by the Uruguayan. Rodgers has sought to address this problem by recruiting former Chelsea youngster Fabio Borini. The Italian worked with Rodgers during his time at Swansea and proved that he was a confident finisher. Rodgers will be hoping that in Suarez and Borini, backed up by the possible arrival of Fulham’s Clint Dempsey, Liverpool will have enough firepower to improve considerably on last season’s return of just 47 goals.

Arsenal: Form: DDWDL

It has been yet another painful summer for Arsenal fans, last summer they lost arguably their two best players in Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, and it appears they have done so again in Robin van Persie and Alex Song. Last summer though, Wenger made some shrewd acquisitions in the transfer market; his capture of Mikel Arteta proved to be a fine bit of business. This season another Spaniard has been brought in, this time in the form of Santi Cazorla, and he has had a fine start to the season, setting up numerous chances for his new team mates.

However, Arsenal have yet to score this season and whilst some fans may panic as they think “RVP would have buried that”, it would only be fair to give his replacements Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud time to settle. On a more positive note, at the other end of the pitch two clean sheets out of two shows a remarkable improve in defence on last season, something that could possibly be attributed to the arrival of former centre back Steve Bould as assistant manager. They will need to be on top form again to keep out a Liverpool team determined to get a first win of the season under their belt.

Match Prediction: Draw 3.30

With Steven Gerrard’s return to full fitness and Nuri Sahin and Joe Allen’s arrivals, Liverpool look strong in the centre park. They have 3 players there all very capable of providing many chances to their strikers. With last seasons solid defence, if Liverpool can capitalize on these chances, they could be a force this season. Likewise, if Arsenal’s new strikers adapt quickly then it could be a very interesting battle for a Champions League spot. Interestingly, Liverpool have won just one of their last ten league games against Arsenal, however in what will be a very hard game to call here I can see both teams cancelling each other out for a low scoring draw.

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