The Gunners will welcome Liverpool at the Emirates on Saturday which is expected to be the blockbuster match of the week.
It is going to be critical for the Gunners as they are expected to bounce back from drawing Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park last weekend. Arsenal currently sit at the fourth position in the League Table with 22 points in 10 matches so far and with arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur just one point behind the Gunners at this point of time.
It was more than a draw for Arsenal, they saw their winning streak of 11 matches (all competitions) being put to an end in the most unexpected tie of all. Now the Gunners will be desperate to get back into winning ways against the mighty Reds.
On the other hand, Liverpool are looking like a compact side as they were expected to be, in this season. They are at the second position in the League Table with an unbeaten run in 10 games in the Premier League this season. They will be keen to continue their good run against Arsenal too at the Emirates (it won’t be easy).
There will be a huge responsibility on the last line of defence – one good save or one costly mistake will defy the outcome. Yes this battle will be exciting and ‘Arsenalcore’ looks upon ‘how’ both of these goalkeepers fair, their strengths and their weaknesses.
Bernd Leno:
Arsenal signed highly rated German goalkeeper Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen for transfer fee worth £25million to replace Petr Cech in between the sticks.
Initially it seemed that Petr Cech would keep Leno grinding out for a chance at Arsenal. Though after the fact that Cech went down with injury, Bernd Leno got the chance he had been waiting for and OH BOY! He has been impressive for Arsenal between the woodworks. Playing the way – Unai Emery wants.
Bernd Leno has started in six matches for the Gunners in all competitions this season, he has managed to keep only two clean sheets. He possess an impressive passing accuracy of eighty percent which is really impressive for a Goalkeeper. He had shown calmness with the ball at his feet for Leverkusen and talking about the way Unai Emery wants to play – he clearly pips Cech over Bernd Leno for the system Emery is initiating and the manager has also mentioned that it would be difficult for him to bench Leno at this moment playing the way he is right now.
Arsenal continued their defensive problems this season and its been an area of concern for Unai Emery this season. Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac are out of action; Granit Xhaka has to play in an uncomfortable left back position. The pair of Shkodran Mustafi and Rob Holding are still settling in the central defense of the Gunners with Sokratis being in-and-out with injuries.
It is evident that Bernd Leno will start against Liverpool as the last man of the defense which just makes it a difficult job for Leno to keep that Clean Sheets week-in-week-out. Yet, Bernd has still been giving his sweats with an average saves of 2.3(69 percent) per game.
But one thing we can surely tell, Leno has to play his best game for the Gunners so far, to stop the attacking trio of Liverpool comprising of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
Alisson Becker:
Liverpool and their defensive problems were also a highlight in the past couple of seasons. They started building up their defence with recruitment of Virgil Van Dijk for a World-record fee from Southampton followed by breaking another record when they signed Alisson from AS Roma for a fee worth £75 million.
The Brazilian has been quite successful at his new home so far this season. Alisson has started all ten games for the Reds keeping six clean sheets including the mighty one against Manchester City. He was also phenomenal against Chelsea as he denied the Blues on the two occasions to kill the game in their favor. His reflexes of the Goalkeeper are one of the best in this World as of now. His passing accuracy is almost nearing 80 percent which is as same as Bernd.
Though his overconfidence has caused Liverpool to concede goals on critical occasions. The one against Leicester City, Alisson tried to dribble past Rachid Ghezzal. But he failed to do so and Leicester pulled one goal back to keep themselves alive in the match. Liverpool won the match; but it was a nervy contest for them till the very end.
In a big match against Arsenal, such error can prove to be costly in terms of the result. So, Alisson must be very much cautious in this one against the Gunners as two in form centre forwards Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang are ready to fire at any moment of the match.
READ MORE ON ARSENAL VS LIVERPOOL:
Arsenal vs Liverpool 2018-19: Alexandre Lacazette vs Roberto Firmino
Arsenal must find a way to contain Mohamed Salah
Joe Gomez or Trent Alexander-Arnold: Who should start against Arsenal at RB?
Geroginio Wijnaldum predicts Arsenal to be an easier opponent than struggling Cardiff City
‘Facing Arsenal will be different’ – Jurgen Klopp
