Liverpool vs Arsenal

Liverpool vs Arsenal.

This is my lineup for Liverpool.

. . . . . . . Torres. . . Crouch
Riise. . .Gerrard. .Mascherano. ..Alonso. . .Babel
. . . . .Carragher. . .Hyypia. . .Finnan
.. .. .. .. . . ... ..Reina

Subs:
Itandje
Sissoko
Benayoun
Voronin
Kuyt


3-5-2 may seem very attacking but it isnt. By jamming the midfield, it would ensure Arsenal wont be able to find the space to play their flowing attacking football. Crouch plays if Toure and Gallas are CBs. If Wenger decides to play Senderos instead, Crouch would most likely be useless. So Voronin should take his place. By right, Hyypia isnt suited for this game at all. He s honestly too slow. If i had a choice i would put Sissoko in his place, while Carragher moves to the centre. But this isnt the match to experiment so it s actually still safer to stick to Hyypia.

Arsenal make use of the flanks to make ground. And the trend is for the winger or full back to short pass to the edge of the box where Fabregas is usually found. The Helb-Fabregas, Clichy-Hleb, Sagna-Fabregas is indeed frightening, so Mascherano is there to neutralise the Fabregas threat and Alonso and Gerrard is suppose to come back on their counter to prevent to pass inwards while Babel and Riise try to cut out the cross. The 3 specialised defenders just have to wait in the box to cramp them out again. It s that simple, just cramp the field. Liverpool is currently short of defenders and by utlising more of the midfielders, it would conserve the energies of the defenders and make sure they dun lose concentration for the entire match so as to prevent stupid last minute goals from being conceded.

The main aim of the match is prevent Arsenal from having time on the ball and let them have as little possesion as possible. The entire defence should be intact at all times, meaning Hyypia and Finnan cannot advance forward for corners or freekicks etc, to neutralise the threat of Arsenal's potent counter. The attack of Liverpool goes directly to Crouch or the Torres-Gerrard combo. Babel-Alonso should be just as potent as they would punish Clichy or Sagna if they go forward.

All in all, this would clearly be a battle of tactics and the game would remain goaless for at least 60, 70 minutes. So dun bother to tune in until the final quarter of the match. For the last 20 minutes, fresh legs would be added and people like Benayoun or Voronin can add tricks and runnning to speed up the tempo for an exciting finish. My prediction - 1-0 to Liverpool.