Arsenal vs Liverpool Headlines Saturday's Fixtures
- By A.J. Ryder on August 19, 2011 16:51 GMT
Arsene Wenger already finds himself under the gun just a match into the 2011/12 English Premier League season with a virtually must-win fixture against Liverpool already upon him. The departure of Arsenal's captain Cesc Fabregas (who has already won silverware with Barcelona) and the supposedly imminent departure of his other creative midfielder Samir Nasri has placed a significant amount of pressure on the Frenchman, whose job appeared as safe as anybody just a few months back.
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If Arsenal lose against Liverpool at the Emirates, or fail to entertain in a bore draw, the criticism on Wenger will be ratcheted up even further – with pressure already being exerted to spend the Fabregas money post-haste.
With only eleven days left in the current transfer window, it appears as though Arsenal would be forced to pay over the odds anyway with clubs knowing their coffers are full at the moment following Fabregas' return to Spain.
It may come as welcome news to Arsenal fans that the bookmakers are declaring them the outright favourites to win the match, albeit not by a very big margin. As it currently stands, punters will find Arsenal trading at a price of 11/8 while Liverpool can be backed at a 2/1 listing. You get the feeling that many people will find the draw too tempting to resist and it can be backed at a healthy 9/4 price.
New signing Gervinho is out, facing a multiple match ban for the infamous “Joey Barton incident”. This makes things a bit trickier up front so expect to see Chamakh or Bendtner called into action up front.
Robin Van Persie, recently made captain of the Arsenal side, will be forced to dig deep to inspire his troops here and one also has to wonder whether Nasri will actually play on Saturday or not. Andrei Arshavin chipping in with a performance would be welcome as well.
Arsenal's defence must put in a first-class performance against a Liverpool side that looks especially dangerous going forward now. The one-dimensional play of Gerrard to Torres over and over again seems to be a thing of the past and the cunning of Luis Suarez will certainly present a challenge to the Gunners.
