Will our Brazilian battler be able to get the better of the mercurial Spaniard…?
We take on Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday, and we’ll need to win our individual battles if we’re to come out on top.
These five could be completely crucial to our chances of success.
1) Raheem Sterling v Per Mertesacker
With Sterling set to continue playing as a false 9, Liverpool will surely try to get him isolated against Arsenal’s German centre-back, who he can beat for pace all day long. Merteacker is solid and positions himself well – but he’s very immobile, and our best chance of success could be to get Sterling running in behind the experienced defender.
2) Lucas v Santi Cazorla
Following Joe Allen’s poor show against Manchester United, Lucas will surely continue alongside Steven Gerrard in central midfield, with Brendan Rodgers expected to carry on using the 3-4-4 formation. This means he’ll be charged with providing the side defensive cover in midfield. Silky Spaniard Cazorla will play the no.10 role for Arsenal due to the absence of Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere – and he could pull the strings unless our Brazilian battler stops him from doing so.
3) Martin Skrtel v Olivier Giroud
With Liverpool set to deploy the three-man defence, Skrtel’s role as ‘central’ centre-back will be crucial against Arsenal’s French spearhead. Giroud holds the ball up excellently, and is also strong in the air. our Slovakian does have the physical attributes to bully him, but he’ll need to be extra careful not to follow Giroud into midfield when the forward drops deep, as this will leave a lot of space behind for Arsenal’s attacking midfielders to run into.
4) Jordan Henderson v Kieran Gibbs
The battle between the two Englishman will be key to the success of our right flank. Henderson is set to start on the right as a wing-back, meaning he’ll be charged with both defensive and offensive duties up this side – with Adam Lallana likely to cut inside ahead of him. Similarly, Gibbs will provide Arsenal’s width on the left, with Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck preferring to cut inside and operate closer to the goal. If Henderson can tame Gibbs’ attacking threat, but bomb forward and help our attacks himself – we’ll be at a serious advantage.
5) Brad Jones v Shots on target
We don’t mean this to sound cruel, but with the Australian letting in three soft goals since his recall, he’ll need to seriously up his levels against the Gunners. Arsenal will be desperate to test Jones, who let in an especially feeble effort against Bournemouth, from the off. Jones’s distribution and ability to claim crosses has actually been pretty impressive – but his positioning and shot-stopping hasn’t been good enough. Brendan Rodgers has said he’ll select him again though, and fans can only hope he takes his opportunity this time around.
