
Liverpool have not set the world on fire this season, but they are a pragmatic side and will be hard to break down on Wednesday night. It will be interesting to see how they line up, will
Benitez play a more attacking 4-4-2 or will he try to bore us with a more defensive 4--5-1? I don't think this should affect how
Arsene approaches the game, I feel we should line up with a standard 4-4-2 as follows against Liverpool's possible 4-5-1:
Almunia
Toure Gallas Senderos Clichy
Eboue Flamini Fabregas Hleb
RVP AdebayorReina
Skrtel Hyypia Carragher RiiseKuuyt Gerrard
Mascherano Alonso Babel
Torres
Obviously the two predicted line ups are two very big ifs indeed.
Arsene may well stick
RVP on the flank, not the best place to put him in my opinion as his sharpness in front of goal is criminally wasted.
Benitez may gamble by playing Crouch with Torres, however I suspect he does not have the balls to do this, Torres on his lonesome with
Kuuyt ploughing a furrow on the right flank is more likely. And will
Wenger go with
Walcott or
Eboue on the right hand side, or will he play
Diaby on the left with
Hleb on the right?
I think width will be important,
Eboue will need to provide this on the right while
Clichy's forward runs will be needed on the left. It's crunch time for Alex
Hleb, his quick feet and trickery may be vital in what will be a rather congested central midfield area.
Toure will have his work cut out against the erratic but talented Ryan Babel, while
Gallas will need to use all his experience to shut out Torres. The midfield battle between
Flamini/
Fabregas and
Mascherano/Gerrard/Alonso will be pivotal.
Liverpool are not a frightening proposition, but they will be hard to beat, but if we are top of our game it is a game I am confident we can win. Here's hoping, come on you Gunners!