Liverpool are ready to lock horns with Arsenal on Sunday for the second time this season in the FA Cup 3rd round tie and are hungry to win.
The entertaining PL clash between the Reds and the Gunners ended in a 1-1 draw on December 23 of last year. So, both teams have been presented with the opportunity to prove their worth and emerge victorious in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.
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The Merseysiders are currently topping the league table with 45 points after 20 games played so far.
Furthermore, their recent form has been phenomenal as they won the last 3 of their 5 matches while drawing only 2 across all competitions.
However, things are not going very well for the North London side as they lost in the last 2 matches and registered only 1 win in the last 5 matches across all competitions.
Liverpool Team News vs Arsenal: FA Cup
The Anfield giants will be missing out on several key players due to injuries, suspension and unavailability. Manager Jurgen Klopp will be facing major selection issues for the high-voltage clash.
The list of injured players remains the same with Joel Matip, Andy Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas, Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic, and Ben Doak being out.
The latest addition to the list is Dominik Szoboszlai who suffered a hamstring injury during the second half of the Newcastle match on New Year’s Day.
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Young fullback Owen Beck, who returned from loan recently, is suspended for the match as he received 2 yellow cards during Scottish League Cup matches in his time at Dundee.
But perhaps the most challenging decision for Klopp will be to fill out the positions of Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo. Salah and Endo have joined their respective national teams to compete in AFCON and Asian Cup respectively.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, the German said,
“Mo can’t play all the time. In the games I rotated him, Mo was probably in the physical state to start the game but I think it makes sense from time to time not going through all of the brick walls.
But when he’s not there we have to be creative and maybe we will be.”
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LFC will be starting in their classic 4-3-3 formation. Alisson in goal, the defense will be Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold as fullbacks, and skipper Virgil van Dijk will be pairing with Jarell Quansah at centre-back.
Alexis Mac Allister will be deputised with the deeper midfielder role alongside young midfielders Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch operating as no. 8s.
For the front three, Luis Diaz will start at the left flank, Darwin Nunez down the middle and Harvey Elliott will be filling out for absentee Mohamed Salah.
Predicted Line Up
Projected Lineup (4-3-3): Alisson; Gomez, Van Dijk, Quansah, Alexander-Arnold; Jones, Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Diaz, Nunez, Elliott.
FA Cup: Liverpool vs Arsenal – Anfield Home Prediction
Before jumping to any conclusions, here are some stats that support our claims:
- Liverpool have won 2 of the last 5 clashes against Arsenal while drawing 2 and losing only 1.
- LFC have only been eliminated from the 3rd round of FA Cup once in last 12 seasons, back in 2018-19 against Wolves.
- After the 2001 Cardiff final, Arsenal have won their last 3 FA Cup matches against Liverpool.
Arsenal and Liverpool will be equally hungry to win this match and pose themselves as the better side. While it will not be easy for the Reds to secure a victory, they most certainly will have to give their all to progress to the next round of the FA Cup.
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The match could go either way but it will most definitely be enthralling. Defensively both the teams are great and their attacks possess quintessential venom.
While the match will be end-to-end, it might be a low-scoring match.
Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool.
Where to watch?
The match will kick-off at 4:30 pm GMT and the live broadcast will be available at BBC One in the UK. In India, the match will start at 10:00 pm IST and can be watched live on Sony Liv.
An ardent football fan and a proud Red. I take immense pleasure in analyzing the intricacies of the game.
