Reds Kick Off Festive Period Against Arsenal


Liverpool will face Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday after successfully getting the better of Bournemouth in their league cup clash earlier in the week. Manager Brendan Rodgers will be unable to call on Mario Balotelli though who has ridiculously been banned by the FA for a social media post.

Injuries for Liverpool mean they are still without long term absentees Daniel Sturridge and Jon Flanagan. There will also be a late fitness test for Dejan Lovren whilst Glen Johnson will remain out until January.

For Arsenal they have several injuries to contend with as Ramsey, Koscielny, Rosicky, Ozil and Arteta are all out injured. Late fitness tests will also be called for Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott.

The last time the two sides met was in the FA Cup in February this year. Arsenal got the better of Liverpool on that occasion winning the game 2-1 with Oxlade-Chamberlain and Podolski on the score sheet.

The last time the sides met in the league was a far better occasion for the Reds. Also back in February, Liverpool managed to put five past Arsenal at Anfield in what was one of the best games of our 2013/2014 campaign. A Martin Skrtel brace, a Sterling brace and a Sturridge goal saw Liverpool walk away victorious as Arsenal could only muster a consolation goal via Mikel Arteta.

Stat Sandwich

  • Liverpool have failed to score in five games so far this season.
  • Arsenal have only lost one of their last six matches in all competitions.
  • Liverpool's tally of 21 points is their lowest after 16 games since 1965 (based on three points for a win).
Looking back at that immense 5-1 win over Arsenal at Anfield back in February, it's very hard to accept the size of the void that exists between our performance level back then and our performance level now. Yes we realise the missing Suarez and Sturridge is a huge, huge part of this but I honestly thought we would be playing better than we are and winning some more games. It was never going to be easy but our season has been pretty dismal so far.

The win over Bournemouth however midweek will hopefully spur us on and get us into a bit of form over the Christmas period. Whilst Arsenal are a tough side at any point for Liverpool to play I do think that if the Reds can push on from their league cup win we may just be able to nick something.

Of course realistically, Arsenal are probably going to batter us. The plus side is Liverpool have the home advantage but the Reds need to ensure they take the chances that they will undoubtedly create. We may have been pretty dire this season but we have created chances, if anything it's our distinct lack of conversion that is the issue.

I asked you for your thoughts on the game and here are a few of the tweets I received:
Enjoy the match folks, wherever you are watching!