Arsenal will host Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday and the team news will be all important.

 

 

 

Arsenal

 

The Gunners 3 league matches over Xmas and New Year saw them take just 1 point. That sequence started with a 1-1 draw against Sunday's opponents Liverpool at Anfield and they were full value for the point but things took a turn for the worse when they went down 2-0 at home to West Ham and they put in a really poor shift in a 2-1 defeat at Fulham last time out.

 

Arsenal have slipped to fourth in the standings, now 5 points behind league leaders Liverpool. They won't be in Champions League Round of 16 action until next month but their team selection for this game will still make interesting reading.

 

Liverpool

 

After that 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal Liverpool went on to win 2-0 at Burnley and then 4-2 at home to Newcastle. They are 3 points clear of Villa in the title race with Man City and Arsenal 5 points back although City have a game in hand.

 

Liverpool are also involved in the Europa League knockout rounds and next week they will host Fulham in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi finals, a competition for which they are outright favourites. Once again team selection will be worth monitoring and Mo Salah is away at the AFCON with Egypt.

 

Recent Head to Head

 

Gabriel gave Arsenal a 4^th minute lead in the EPL clash at Anfield on 23^rd December but Salah levelled things up but the half hour mark and there was no further scoring.

 

Liverpool lost a league game 3-2 on this ground last season and the return at Anfield finished 2-2.

 

The Betting

 

At the time of writing Arsenal are trading at evens to win the game with the draw priced at 29/10 and Liverpool can be backed at around 24/10

 

A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 13/20 and it's 6/10 for both teams to score

 

 

The Verdict

 

Making an early call in the absence of team sheets is no easy task. Given poor recent form and the need for a confidence booster my gut feel is Arsenal will field a stronger line up than might otherwise have been the case although changes will still be made and it could be worth holding fire for confirmed line ups.

 

Surely neither side will welcome a replay so we should see goals and I will go with Trossard who was not involved in the defeat at Fulham and looks likely to start here

 

Bets: Anytime goalscorer Trossard at 2.45/1 with Betway

 

 

Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change

 

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