Arsenal to dent Liverpool’s 100% start to season

Arsenal host Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Monday night in what is set to be one of the most interesting games of the weekend.

Our guest to preview the star match is Bolaji Idowu, a fan of “the number one club in London”.

Bolaji has been a Chelsea fan for about 18 years after falling in love with the club’s jersey in the 97-98 season same period they signed the Nigerian left-back Celestine Babayaro.

He studied Business Administration at the University of East London and he’s based in the United Kingdom.

CURRENT FORM

The Gunners have started the season poorly after losing against London rivals West Ham United. They bounced back with a narrow win over Crystal Palace last weekend, though.

Liverpool have not really been playing too well as they only managed to beat Stoke City and Bournemouth each with a single goal thanks to some Brazilian wizardry from Philippe Coutinho and a touch of fortune with Christian Benteke’s first competitive goal for the Reds.

Both teams have looked unconvincing and Monday’s game provides a stage for these two giants to build a foundation and catapult their season into gear.

KEY BATTLES

CHRISTIAN BENTEKE V PER MERTESACKER AND LAURENT KOSCIELNY

Benteke had a good game against Bournemouth and capped his performance with a controversial winner. His physical presence will give Mertesacker and Koscielny a lot to worry about.

The Arsenal central defenders endured a torrid time in the game against West Ham as the Gunners let in two very soft goals. Mertesacker’s performance against Crystal Palace was an improvement over what we saw against the Hammers, but Koscielny hasn’t quite hit his best form.

The true strength of Benteke lies in his heading ability and it would be put to test against Mertesacker, who is one of the few defenders who actually has a height advantage over the Belgian.

Koscielny and Mertesacker did very well against Benteke in the FA Cup final in May when the Belgian was still with Aston Villa. That should give them solace going into this game.

MESUT OZIL V EMRE CAN

With Jordan Henderson being a major doubt for the game, it’s likely that Can will be played in the midfield alongside James Milner. And that means he’ll be up against Ozil.

The Arsenal attacking midfielder had a good game against Crystal Palace and will be a key figure in Arsenal’s attacking forays on Monday. When the two sides met last season, Ozil scored a brilliant free kick and also dictated the pace of the game. For that not to happen again, Can will have to be at his dominant best.

FRANCIS COQUELIN V PHILIPPE COUTINHO

Arsenal’s defensive midfielder, Francis Coquelin, will have an important role to play as I expect most of Liverpool’s moves in the game will be through the counter attacks. Arsenal are at home so they should have the bulk of the possession, so Coquelin will have to break the Liverpool counter attacks.

Against Crystal Palace, Coquelin was lucky to stay on the pitch, but when facing an opponent like Philippe Coutinho who will lead the Liverpool creativity, Coquelin can ill afford to make fouls as the Brazilian is very elusive in his trickery and movement hence drawing a lot of fouls. The Frenchman’s performance was better last weekend, but he needs to continue improving on Monday.

HEAD 2 HEAD (LAST FIVE GAMES)

Sat          04/04/15            BPL         Arsenal 4-1 Liverpool

Sun        21/12/14              BPL         Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal

Sun        16/02/14             FAC        Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool

Sat          08/02/14            BPL         Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal

Sat          02/11/13              BPL         Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool

PREDICTION

The Gunners will be looking to get their second win of the new season under their belts after their surprising opening home defeat to West Ham.

Liverpool will arrive in London in a confident mood with after having a 100 per cent record so far this season. But that record will be put to dent at the Emirates. 2-1

Key match stats (supplied by Opta)

Arsenal have lost just one of their last seven BPL games against Liverpool (W4 D2 L1).

Only Manchester United (21) have secured more BPL wins against Arsenal than Liverpool (16).

Olivier Giroud’s next league appearance will be his 100th. He’s scored 42 goals in 99 league games for Arsenal – only Thierry Henry (59), Ian Wright (56) and Emmanuel Adebayor (44) scored more in their first 100 league matches for the club.

Martin Skrtel has scored three goals in his last two league games against Arsenal – only against Manchester City has he scored as many league goals (3).

Liverpool v Arsenal has seen more hat-tricks than any other fixture in Premier League history (5).

Michael Oliver will take charge of this match after refereeing two of the last three meetings between the clubs. He’s officiated 11 Premier League games involving Arsenal, with the Gunners winning just two and losing five.

Liverpool took one point from their four away games against the top four clubs in the 2014-15 Premier League (Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd).

Liverpool have won each of their last four Premier League games on a Monday, keeping a clean sheet in the last three.

PREDICTIONS OF OTHER WEEKEND FIXTURES

Manchester United 2-1 Newcastle United

Crystal Palace 1-0 Aston Villa

West Ham United 2-0 Bournemouth

Norwich City 0-0 Stoke City

Sunderland 1-1 Swansea City

Leicester City 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Sunday

West Brom 1-2 Chelsea

Everton 1-2 Manchester City

Watford 0-0 Southampton