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Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge partnership:
It won’t be wrong in saying that Daniel Sturridge has contributed immensely in Liverpool’s scintillating run in the current campaign of the Premier League. Liverpool started off this season with their main striker Luis Suarez serving a ban. They had Sturridge to look up to, and he didn’t disappoint. He was an instant hit with the manager & fans alike. Daniel Sturridge improved his game week after week and helped Liverpool reach the top half of the table in the Premier League.
After completing his ban, Luis Suarez returned to start his first match of the season against Manchester United in the COC 3rd round but, couldn’t help Liverpool continue their run in the competition. His next game was the Premier League against Sunderland, and he continued where he left last season, scoring twice and guiding Liverpool to a comfortable win. Luis Suarez & Daniel Sturridge hit it out instantly and formed a deadly combination upfront for Liverpool. Both of them have been assisting each other and scoring some classic goals themselves.
Defenders have had a torrid time facing them and trying to stop this combination. If the Arsenal defenders let this pair settle down in the match then, it would be very difficult to stop them. It would be up to Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny to deal with Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. Even a very small error can lead to a goal, as this pair doesn’t look to miss out on any chances this season.
Arsenal’s midfield brilliance:
Arsenal’s midfield: Can they work their magic?
Despite being hit by numerous injuries, Arsenal has maintained their top spot in the Premier League. And one factor that has helped them enormously is their midfield. Arsenal’s midfielders have been in top form, especially Aaron Ramsey and record signing Mesut Özil.
Although Arsenal have lost out on Mathieu Flamini due to a groin injury for two weeks, they have been boosted by the return of Santi Cazorla from injury and Mikel Arteta through suspension. With the current midfield options Arsene Wenger has with him, it surely would give him a selection head ache. Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere have also done pretty well since the start of the season.
This Arsenal side has played some beautiful passing football this season, which was evident in parts during their game against Norwich City. It would be interesting to see how well Mesut Özil and Santi Cazorla combine in the midfield. Mesut Özil would be the key for Arsenal and Liverpool must try and cut out Özil from the rest of the team, which was done to a pretty fair extent by Borussia Dortmund.
However, Liverpool must also mark the man in form Aaron Ramsey, who would definitely be looking at increasing his goal tally.
Liverpool’s defensive line, will it be 3 or will it be 4?
Having tasted success with the new 3-5-2 formation, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers looks highly unlikely to switch back to his old formation.
The defence has done pretty well for Liverpool, having orchestrated into conceding only 8 goals this season and their goal keeper Simon Mignolet keeping three vital clean sheets in his 9 matches between the posts in the Premier League.
However, Brendan Rodgers is familiar with this Arsenal side and their small passing game and he knows that, to stop Arsenal players in their current form it would take more than just three of his defenders to stop their attack. If Rodgers changes his formation and switches back to 4 defenders then it would be interesting to see whether he brings back Daniel Agger, who has started only 4 Premier League games for Liverpool so far this season.
With a 3-5-2 formation, the Liverpool defenders have to be on their toes to counter the quick pace of Mesut Özil, Jack Wilshere and others. This formation could mean that Bacary Sagna and Keiran Gibbs will find it a bit easy to shoot crosses into the box and Giroud would try and meet the cross with his head or even try and volley them into the back of the net.
This is going to be a very tough fixture, mentally as well as physically for both the teams, as Liverpool would be hoping to try and leapfrog Arsenal to the first place, whereas Arsenal would try and strengthen their grip on the top of the Premier League table.
