With the titanic clash of title contenders between Arsenal and Liverpool taking place today at The Emirates Stadium, the anticipation of what should be a superb match is building.
Both teams have made excellent starts to the season with just 5 points dropped so far by the hosts and, perhaps more surprisingly, only 7 points dropped by the red half of Merseyside. Though the opening day 3-1 defeat at home to Aston Villa sent shockwaves of panic and hysteria reverberating throughout North London and beyond, Arsene Wenger ensured that the rot stopped there and then and his Gunners have since played some of the best football in the division so far.
First Half Crucial In Emirates Showdown
Brendan Rodgers also has his Liverpool team playing fantastic football and this can only be a good thing for the Premier League season as a whole, as they now genuinely look as though they will be legitimate challengers for Champions League qualification come May. With the attacking axis of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge currently wreaking havoc amongst Premier League defences, things are certainly looking up for the Reds. Last weekend saw a 4-1 victory at Anfield against West Bromwich Albion thanks to a first half blitz from Luis Suarez which West Brom had no answer for – and I’m sure not many other teams would have had either as he completely took the game away from the visitors with a typically tenacious display of guile, skill, quality and class.
On occasions, meetings between two of the heavyweights of the division can lead to stalemate, as the teams cancel each other out and are a little over-cautious in their approach, but with these two sides, I don’t see the game being played out that way and I believe that we will see two teams attack each other from the off, trying to put the game away at the earliest opportunity.
Going back to the 2007 season, there have been 12 Premier League meetings between these old foes with the slightly disturbing news for Arsenal fans being that there has only been one solitary win for the home team throughout those dozen meetings. The more comforting news is that that home win was a 1-0 home win for Arsenal in 2010. Additional comfort may be found in the fact that Liverpool have only won one of the dozen meetings themselves, with Arsenal picking up 3 points on trips North to Anfield on 3 occasions, with the remaining 7 matches being drawn, 5 of which were a 1-1 scoreline.
In this meeting, I believe that a good start will be crucial to the final outcome of the match and have highlighted some statistics that show just how well both Arsenal and Liverpool have started off the first half of matches during this Premier League season so far.
With both teams having played 9 Premier League matches to this point, Liverpool are statistically the best team during the first 45 minutes in the entire league, with them reaching the half time interval ahead in 7 of the 9 games, going on to win 6 and draw 1. They have also scored 15 goals and conceded just 5 during those first halves and Arsenal will need to hit the ground running themselves in order to not get blown away by Liverpool and their version of the “SAS”. Luckily for those of an Arsenal volition, they, along with Manchester City hold the second best first half record with a lead being taken to the sanctuary of the dressing room on 5 occasions and them going on to win all 5 with a goals for-against record of 14-4 during those 5 victories. Arsenal are one of 7 teams to be 100% when leading at the break.
Upon further examination, the importance of taking a lead into the break cannot be underestimated, with there being just 6 occasions where the leader at half time has gone on to lose the match. Newly promoted Cardiff City are the only team in the division yet to taste a half time lead.
When Arsenal are playing at home, they have led at the break in 3 of the 4 matches with a goals record of 8-2, whilst Liverpool have led in 3 of their 4 away matches to this point with them going on to collect 2 wins and a draw from those positions with a 6-3 goals record.
So, after all of that, who, if anyone, will reach the interval with the lead and give themselves a statistically fantastic chance of going on to collect all 3 points?
As much as Liverpool have started off the season on a level that their supporters have craved for them to for so long, I still believe that Arsenal will have a little bit too much for them today. During the summer, Arsenal made every effort to convince Liverpool’s tormentor-in-chief Luis Suarez to swap Merseyside for the capital, and he is sure to be fully wound up to inflict some punishment on them to show them what they are missing but I don’t see Arsenal allowing him to take them apart in the same fashion as he did West Brom last weekend. It is in the midfield that I believe Arsenal will win this match with the probing of playmakers Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla providing a supply-line to the in-form Frenchman Olivier Giroud which is sure to cause problems to Liverpool’s defense.
I believe there will be goals in the game and recent history backs this up with there not having been a goalless draw between the two footballing giants this Millennium.
Whatever happens, with the amount of attacking talent on show, as well as there being ‘top, top players’ all over the pitch, it is sure to be a clash to set your watch for. I can’t wait.
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