Well, the table's looking good. Six points from two games while Arsenal have three. That said, I thought Arsenal played better in their first-round defeat than we did in our first-round win.

And I think that sum's up many Liverpool fans' feelings about this match. That while we've two wins, the performances haven't been what you'd like to see before travelling to visit Arsenal. Are we going to get exposed against them or show that our start hasn't been a fluke?

I haven't seen an update on our captain's injury, as far as I know he's doubtful for this one.

We'll see whether the line-up will be the 4-2-3-1, but personally I'd hope Rodgers to be proactive and switch to 4-3-something. Attack hasn't clicked in the 4-2-3-1 and something should be tweaked. No guarantee a change of formation will do that, but should try something, plus a three-man central midfield should give us the cover we need against Arsenal in London.

Feels good going to the first really big game of the season with a 100% start, let's see how we're feeling when the final whistle goes.

No matter what we've put ourselves in a good position. Arsenal love to flow through the middle of the pitch so clogging that up will be imperative to winning this game, IMO. Not that they're bad out wide, but if we make it very hard to move the ball through the middle they will struggle to create against a backline that has looked very solid so far and would have added protection from a very combative, industrious midfield.


In my opinion this would be the ideal line-up. If Henderson is still injured then bring in Allen who's underrated defensive ability and agility in midfield would see a lot of use out of this game. An alternative I could accept would be something like this if Firmino isn't going to start:


A 4-5-1 that is aimed at sitting a bit deeper and hitting on the counter. Again, Allen can replace Henderson if necessary due to injury. Either way to get any kind of result at the Emirates, where we rarely do, would be great especially considering our start and the relative start of those we're going to be fighting for top 4 honours.

Get in! YNWA!

Monday night again? Yaikes

I would like to see something like this, if Henderson is fit:


If Henderson is not available:

Although history suggests we have been better at Emirates I think this time we will have a very difficult game ! Our defense will be scared of Benteke as usual

Too soon for Firmino, We'd be working our ass of half of the game.

I would rather Ibe or Lallana start. Firmino can wait for the next game at Anfield.

Why is it too soon for Firmino? Nothing suggests to me he'd be lacking fitness at this point.

I just hope Henderson is fit to play, although shouldn't risk him if his injury may get worse.

Might be wise to let Arsenal come at us and play on the counter.

Too soon as in, The amount of defensive effort he put in against Bournemouth was not adequate, He need's to understand how we work as a team grafting to get results.

Art Morte wrote:Why is it too soon for Firmino? Nothing suggests to me he'd be lacking fitness at this point.

I just hope Henderson is fit to play, although shouldn't risk him if his injury may get worse.

Might be wise to let Arsenal come at us and play on the counter.

I think we suffered against WestHam because of their pressing and diamond midfield. Also, we were quite not in mood for first two games. But hopefully against Liverpool, we will wake up !

Can someone fix Helmer? The start of the season pressure has apparently been too much for him.

Art Morte wrote:Can someone fix Helmer? The start of the season pressure has apparently been too much for him.

Yeah, he has become a bit too freaky. Every time I think it's RG (and wonder why RG is posting so regularly here) only to realize it's just Helmer Gone Nuts.

I think it's CBarca the Tottenham fan using his mod powers to post pro-Arsenal messages on Helmer's account in an attempt to jinx the match in our favour.

They are doing it to me...I am helpless

If we play like we've played the first 2 games we're going to lose IMO.

futbol wrote:If we play like we've played the first 2 games we're going to lose IMO.

and by "we" you mean...

Liverpool, duh.

Art Morte wrote:Liverpool, duh.

you can't be too sure these days

Gtfo Helmer.

I have a bad feeling about this game tbh. It's not easy playing away at the Emirates. But if WHU could do it with a 16 year old kid in midfield against them, I am reasonably more positive that we can too. Besides, Wenger is stubborn and never learns from his mistakes. Remember how we, City and Chelsea each put 6 past them in the span of 4 months?

YNWA. COYScousers.

The only change I would expect to see to the teamsheet is CAn for Hendo. I'm inclined to believe that Rodgers has set aside these first few matches with a more-or-less set formation/line-up.

Can't say it would be my personal choice, as I've not been impressed by what I've seen from Ibe and Lallana so far. Assuming that both the formation and the pool of available/preferred players are set for these initial fixtures, I would probably go with the following:

Essentially, there are two changes made: Ings for Ibe, and Moreno for Lallana.

Ings for Ibe is a simple case of adding a bit more goal-threat and creativity. While I think Ibe has a lot of potential, he's looked a bit devoid of ideas at times. Moreover, he hasn't shown much end product in his two starts. Ings brings a more obvious goal-threat and a bit of creativity that he's already shown at the Premier League level. Granted, this assignment would be somewhat out of position for him, but his tendency to drift inside would easily be covered by Milner's tendency to get high and wide, and Clyne's standing orders to get forward and overlap.

Moreno for Lallana is a case of choosing pace and defense over a moderate amount of creativity and a ton of Cruyff turns. Moreno is probably the only player in our squad that can match (or at least come close) to matching Bellerin's pace. With Gomez likely to retain his place at LB, I'm very concerned we will be caught out for pace by some combination of Bellerin and whoever plays on the right for Arsenal (Ox, Ramsey, Ozil, or maybe even Sanchez). Moreno negates that to an extent and could let us exploit the space left by a marauding Bellerin. That, and he would add someone who could swing in a cross from the left side.

Rodgers

“Each game you assess and look tactically at where you can win the game,” Rodgers explained.

“I think ideally every manager will want that consistency in the team, but that’s why you have a big squad – if you want to change the game dynamically.

“If you assess the games we’ve had against Arsenal, especially at home we’ve always had dominance of the ball.”

“If you assess the last 10 games they’ve lost at home, the teams that have won have had dangerous possession,” he continued.

“The winners have averaged four shots on target with 43 percent possession.

“So it tells you that you can go there, you don’t need to dominate the ball – but you need to dominate the space.

“Tactically, we arrive with a good mind of how to win it.”

“No matter when these games come in the season they’re always good for the psychological effect,” he said.

“We know they’re an outstanding group of players with some quality individual players.

“But there’s a real focus in this group, we know how to scrap and fight for the result as well as play good football.

“We’re confident we can get the result.”

:

You're doomed to fail.

Oh boy Sacchi wannabe opening his mouth again after 2 unconvincing 1-0 wins. Less talking and more doing ffs.

4-1 to Arsenal.

Helmer wrote:Rodgers

“Each game you assess and look tactically at where you can win the game,” Rodgers explained.

“I think ideally every manager will want that consistency in the team, but that’s why you have a big squad – if you want to change the game dynamically.

“If you assess the games we’ve had against Arsenal, especially at home we’ve always had dominance of the ball.”

“If you assess the last 10 games they’ve lost at home, the teams that have won have had dangerous possession,” he continued.

“The winners have averaged four shots on target with 43 percent possession.

“So it tells you that you can go there, you don’t need to dominate the ball – but you need to dominate the space.

“Tactically, we arrive with a good mind of how to win it.”

“No matter when these games come in the season they’re always good for the psychological effect,” he said.

“We know they’re an outstanding group of players with some quality individual players.

“But there’s a real focus in this group, we know how to scrap and fight for the result as well as play good football.

“We’re confident we can get the result.”

:

I want to believe his words, but I am still not sure if we can pull off an away win. He's right about the last 10 games part though. Also, is he really giving away his tactics or just bluffing? Doesn't matter - old man Wenger will set them up the same way anyway, he doesn't do no tactics nor tweaks.

Rodgers

He'll play 4-2-3-1 and we'll get our sorry midfield blown apart.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/lucas-leiva-set-recalled-liverpool-9910564