There is one match left in the midweek round of Premier League action ahead of the break for the FA Cup and it takes us to the Emirates Stadium where the leaders Arsenal welcome the current champions Liverpool for a huge clash.
Arsenal have already seen their two closest challengers Manchester City and Aston Villa drop points this week so they can move eight points clear with a win here. Liverpool will stay in fourth regardless of the result here but can open a four point gap to fifth with a win.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League channels with the build-up beginning at 7pm ahead of the kick off in the capital at 8pm.
Arsenal
The Gunners are very much the pacesetters in the Premier League and if we are not there yet then we are very close to being in the situation where the title is theirs to lose even this far out from the end of the season. If they can knock off the team in fourth barely a week after they tore the team in third apart then it would really tell the chasers that they are going to need to do something special to catch them. Were they to slip up here it would offer an olive branch for the others, which is something Arsenal won’t want to do.
Earlier in the season, Arsenal were getting by with the strength of their defence and while they weren’t struggling for goals, they weren’t exactly blowing many sides away. In more recent times the goals have flowed much more but they have begun to concede more than we have become accustomed to and is something they will be looking to rectify as quickly as possible. That defence is likely to face a test here so it will be interesting to see how they go in this one.
Liverpool
After winning the Premier League in front of crowds for the first time last season, and in the dominant fashion with which they did it as well, there would have been lofty expectations for Liverpool this term, especially when you factor in the enormous spent they underwent in the close season. They haven’t got remotely close to realising those expectations and already you suspect that their goals will have moved elsewhere as the Premier League title looks beyond them even with 18 games still to play.
The good news for Liverpool here is that they have only lost one of their last seven competitive matches against Arsenal so that should give them some confidence but they have been struggling defensively for the majority of the season and even though the January window is open they are yet to rectify that. They still carry some danger at the other end of the pitch but that probably doesn’t carry the weight it did last term when you consider the drop off defensively.
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Team News
Arsenal have a doubt over the fitness of Riccardo Calafiori but he will be given every chance to feature in the game. Cristhian Mosquera is missing for the Gunners who are likely to restore Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard to the starting XI.
Liverpool have a major doubt over Hugo Ekitike which isn’t ideal when you consider that Alexander Isak is definitely out with injury and Mo Salah remains away at the Africa Cup of Nations. Wataru Endo is another who is ruled out of this one.
Betting
This feels like a match which could be quite defining for both of these clubs this season. Arsenal can’t win the league here but opening up an eight point gap at the top would be a huge advantage as we head into the FA Cup break, while Liverpool can go a long way to solidifying their top four spot, which in terms of the league would be their sole aim now. Recent form would certainly have Arsenal as favourites here but even with the Liverpool absentees they feel a touch short at a best of 8/13 when you consider that Wolves needed to score twice for Arsenal to beat them here and Villa had chances to be out of sight before Arsenal put the foot down in the last game at the Emirates.
I’ll let Arsenal win if they are good enough but I’ll look to take advantage of the Liverpool injuries and get on Cody Gakpo to have a shot on target. Gakpo will play through the middle if Ekitike is not fit and he had five shots from that position at Fulham at the weekend but even were he to move back to one of the wide positions he can still fire an effort on target. Gakpo has had a shot on target in three of his last four Premier League starts and the one he didn’t he was withdrawn at half time. He had a shot on target in the reverse fixture and in the meeting between the two that he started last term. You can get 13/10 on Gakpo to have a shot on target and that looks a big price to me.
Tips
Back C.Gakpo – Over 0.5 shots on target for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Betway
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