Liverpool’s second game against Arsenal in two weeks is likely to be just as tight as the first one.
The Reds and the Gunners cancelled each other out at Anfield just before Christmas, 1-1 the final scoreline.
Since then, the two teams have fared rather differently. Liverpool have won both of their games to leave them top of the Premier League. Arsenal meanwhile lost two out of two to trail the Reds by five points.
But this is the FA Cup, things may be different. Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has already predicted his old team to take a narrow 2-1 win on Sunday and speaking on his Seaman Says podcast, Merson’s old teammate David Seaman says he’s going with the same result.
“I’m going to go with a 2-1 Arsenal win,” the 60-year-old predicted. “I always remember when we were in the draw for the FA Cup and Man United got Liverpool, we would be like ‘yes, one of them are going out’. So that’s what they are all thinking about this one, Arsenal or Liverpool are going out.
“It will depend on strength of teams that each manager puts out. It will be a great game.”
Liverpool prepare for Arsenal trip
It wouldn’t be a surprise if Seaman ended up being right about Sunday’s game. Arsenal may not be in the best of form, but they’re still a formidable side.
Given the timing of the fixture, we’d also expect that Mikel Arteta will go near-enough full-strength for Liverpool’s visit.
The Gunners don’t have another game for almost two weeks and Arteta will want to arrest the recent slump. Win here, and they’ll feel buoyant once more, but a loss could really hit them hard.
The Spanish coach will want to take as little risks as possible and may want to capitalise on Jurgen Klopp making some changes himself.
Had Liverpool also had the luxury of 13 days off following the game, Klopp may have been tempted to go stronger than he would usually for an FA Cup third round game.
But the Reds are playing again on Wednesday against Fulham in the Carabao Cup. That game is at Anfield though and is just the first of a two-legged semi-final, too. Liverpool also don’t play for 11 days on the back of it.
As a result, it seems likely that Jurgen will go for a strong side at the Emirates, before rotating a little more mid-week. Nevertheless, Liverpool are missing a few key players anyway, with Dominik Szoboszlai the latest injury problem.
Like Seaman says, the result could well depend on the teams both managers deploy. Either way, it’ll be tight. Hopefully the former England goalie ends up being wrong on this one.
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