Liverpool travel to the Emirates on Sunday as they prepare to face an Arsenal side that they beat 5-1 just over a week ago. With Arsenal having one eye on their Champions League tie with Bayern Munich it may be a slightly weakened team from Wenger whilst Liverpool may prefer to go out strong.
Injuries for Liverpool mean they are still without Lucas, Sakho and Enrique. Glen Johnson however is nearly back to fitness and it is possible too that the newly returned Daniel Agger will feature in the starting line up. For Arsenal they are without Walcott, Ramsey and a few other key players whilst Cazorla who is suffering from an illness may also be left out on Sunday.
The last time the two sides met as we all know was on 8th February, Liverpool were brilliant in that fixture but it's not always been plain sailing against Arsenal, especially not at the Emirates. Liverpool's last trip ended in a 2-0 loss with goals via Ramsey and Cazorla.
The last time the Reds won at the Emirates was in August 2011 after a late Suarez goal sealed a 2-1 win. Collecting all three points is often a rare feat for Liverpool at the London ground however this is the FA Cup and as always, anything can happen. The Reds have also picked up several draws at the Emirates over the years and even this would stand them in good stead, knowing there would be a replay at Anfield.
Stat Sandwich
- Liverpool have a total of seven FA Cups.
- Arsenal have a total of ten FA Cups.
- Liverpool and Arsenal have met 17 times so far in the competition.
It's a short preview this week because after doing a preview for a league game so close to a cup fixture, there isn't much new information to include (as you can tell from this week's dire stat sandwich haha).
I've been doing the rounds on Twitter as always but this week I can't seem to tell what the fans are thinking, there's usually a majority consensus but from what I've seen some people think we'll blow it, others are expecting another miraculous performance and some are putting their money on a draw.
In my opinion I think it would be a miracle for us to play as we did against Arsenal at home in this tie. The Emirates is a totally different ball game (pun intended) and I feel it's wrong to expect another Liverpool performance of that calibre. That doesn't mean however that I don't feel we're capable of collecting a win, if we play as we have done of late there's nothing stopping us progressing but in my heart of hearts I can't help but feel this will end in a score draw.
Arsenal may end up fielding a weakened side but that in a sense could help them, players disheartened by the embarrassing loss at Anfield wll be removed and the fresh faces may bring a different edge to the game. Also Arsenal are going to want nothing more than some revenge and so will their fans and I feel this is going to be a difficult atmosphere to play in.
For this reason I'll probably be popping a quid on a score draw and also a quid on Skrtel anytime again!
Enjoy the match folks, wherever you are watching it from!