It’ll be a crucial week for Jurgen Klopp, as his Liverpool side prepares to host a couple of the club’s biggest Premier League rivals at Anfield in a span of just a few days. First up for the hamstrung Reds will be Wednesday’s visit of league-leading, Arsenal, who haven’t tasted defeat too often in their recent trips to Merseyside.
Get a full breakdown if this marquee matchup with our preview below. And for more midweek Premier League action, check out our preview of Tottenham vs. Leicester City.
[sc:Soccer ]Liverpool vs. Arsenal Preview
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
When: Wednesday, January 13, 4:00 PM ET
Line: Liverpool +135 vs. Arsenal +176, tie +210; total 2.5 – view all EPL lines
Betting on Liverpool (8-6-6, 30 pts)
Liverpool are still trying to find consistency under new boss Jurgen Klopp. After stringing a pair of 1-0 wins over Leicester and Sunderland, the Reds looked absolutely wretched in their last Premier League outing, a 2-0 loss at West Ham on Jan. 2. They showed a distinct lack of cutting edge going forward in that game, as only two of their 23 total shots ended up on target.
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Klopp won’t be able to call on his most dangerous creative player in star midfielder Philippe Coutinho, who suffered a hamstring injury in the Capital One Cup that will keep him out until February. Strikers Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge are also still missing due to their own hamstring problems.
Centerbacks Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren are likewise unavailable against Arsenal with hamstring injuries, but Klopp expects Mamadou Sakho and Kolo Toure, as well as captain Jordan Henderson, to recover from their injury concerns and play some part against Arsenal.
Even with all the injuries, though, Klopp’s ability to craft a perfect gameplan should give Liverpool a great chance of pulling out a positive result against the league leaders at home.
In his short time in England, Klopp has gotten his tactics spot on during the big games. He drew with Spurs 0-0 in his very first game in charge, beat Chelsea (1-3) and Manchester City (1-4) away, and edged out Leicester 1-0 in their last game at Anfield.
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Betting on Arsenal (13-3-4, 42 pts)
It’s been a pretty impressive last month and a half for Arsenal. The Gunners have won eight of their last ten matches in all competitions, and five of their last seven in the Premier League, with their only loss in that stretch coming against Southampton on Boxing Day.
That run has been made all the more impressive when taking into account the absence of star forward Alexis Sanchez since the end of November.
Olivier Giroud has stepped up admirably in Sanchez’s absence. He scored six goals in a four-game stretch in December, and finally ended a recent three-game goal drought in their 3-1 FA Cup win over Sunderland on Saturday.
Even with Sanchez still unavailable against Liverpool, the likes of Giroud, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey should give the Gunners more than enough firepower to trouble an injury-hit Liverpool backline.
Wenger has had a lot of success in the “big games,” particularly this season. He’s beaten Manchester United (3-0) and Manchester City (2-1) and drew with Liverpool (0-0) and Tottenham (1-1), although all four of those games have been at home.
He has a particularly impressive record at Anfield, where he’s won three, drawn three and lost just once in the last seven years.
Writer’s Prediction
Arsenal and Liverpool cancel each other out and play out a 1-1 draw (+210).
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