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PADDY POWER'S FOOTBALL PREVIEW 11-3-06
Arsenal v Liverpool
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Arsenal v Liverpool
Intro
Struggling in the league but progressing in Europe. Sound familiar? Arsene Wenger could well have to rely on doing a Liverpool to get back into Europe next season and after dumping out Real Madrid with the type of battling performances that have been lacking too often in the Premiership it can’t be dismissed. Liverpool on the other hand have a stronger side than last season but the weight of expectation along with some more woefully inept forward play proved too much for Steven Gerrard to overcome on his own and now they are left with the FA Cup as their only hope of silverware.
Arsenal:
A rare win away from home in the league coupled with progression in the Champions League will see the Gunners brimming with confidence ahead of this big clash. There was a real sense, no pun intended, that the Gunners were starting to gel as a team as they battled past Madrid at Highbury but a lot of credit for that draw has to go to Lehman who has been fantastic all season. With an unsettled and inexperienced back line the German stopper has prevented a poor league season from being even worse and against a strike force as impotent as Liverpool’s a good performance from him could be enough to earn Arsenal a clean sheet.
Going forward it all rests on Henry. Throughout the season we have seen him thrill and frustrate and if he’s firing then so are Arsenal. Without Van Persie there’s no consitent goal threat anywhere else in the team. Reyes has never lived up to the hype while Ljungberg and Pires don’t look the players they once were. Henry is the only obvious choice for first goalscorer but considering the number of goals Liverpool have conceded from free kicks this year the lanky Adebayor, if he starts, could cause problems. Fabregas and Silva will need to be on top form to deal with Alonso and Gerrard but the longer the game goes on scoreless the more frustrated Liverpool will become, Gerrard will go wandering and the fast attacking Gunners could pounce.
Liverpool:
Sami Hyypia should return for this game but if not expect Daniel Agger to deputise after Djimi Traore proved once again that he’s even worse at the centre of defence than he is out left. Liverpool’s problems up front are so well documented that there’s little point trawling over the facts here, what it does mean is that the pressure is now on the midfielders to come up with the goals. This accounts for Liverpool’s appaling shots to goals ratio as the likes of Gerrard and Riise are forced to try their luck from long range. Set pieces will provide the Reds with their best opportunites against a fairly small Arsenal team. Hyypia has looked as likely to score as any of the front men and at 33/1 to score first is well worth a small punt. If one of their strikers is going to go on a scoring run then it’s most likely to be Robbie Fowler. Could this be the game where he gets off the mark at last?
Conclusion:
A hard game to call but it’s sure to be a tight one and 0-0, 1-1 or 1-0 either way is where you should be looking in the correct score market. What is needed in this game is an early goal, then we might see an attacking exciting game but my gut feeling is that Benitez knows he can’t rely on his team producing more than one goal and will concentrate on stifling Arsenal’s attack, something I fear they’re going to do.
Verdict:
Yawn!!!
Aye, Aye Captain!
Arsenal v Liverpool
If both captains, T Henry & S Gerrard, both score in this match then Paddy Power will refund all losing 1st/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match.
Applies to singles placed before kick off only.
Max Refund €300/£200 per customer/bet.
Applies to 1st/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast bets only.
Applies to win part of each-way goalscorer bets only.
Both players must score and team selection/injuries are beyond our control.
Applies to above players only irrelevant of who is team captain on the day of the match.
Own goals do not count.
Paddy Power football rules apply.
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