by Reg » Sat Apr 05, 2008 1:59 am
April 5, 2008
Arsenal to benefit from changing face of Liverpool
Gambling and football may have been thrust into the public eye again yesterday with revelations about alleged match-fixing, but Arsenal are surely worth a hefty bet to beat Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium today. By their own admissions, Arsenal want it badly and Liverpool not so much. So lump on a home victory.
It is the second instalment of a strength-sapping three-part series in seven days between the clubs. On Wednesday they shared a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. This afternoon, Liverpool return to North London for a Barclays Premier League match. On Tuesday evening, it is back to Champions League business, with the second leg of the quarter-final at Anfield.
It is all a question of priorities. With Arsenal chasing the Premier League title, they will field a full-strength team today. Yet with Liverpool apparently secure in fourth place - enough to qualify for the Champions League next season - they will mix and match at the Emirates.
“No, I will not have Tuesday in mind,” Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said. “I will pick a team which can win the game on Saturday. I feel we have a good chance in the championship and do not want to miss that. For us, it is important to win because of the situation in the championship.
“Some people say the title race is over, but everyone in football has a different opinion. In this case, I have a different one. Manchester United play four times away from home and one of the two times they will play at home, they will play against us.”
Arsenal trail United by six points, yet Wenger believes that the Premier League leaders could falter during the run-in. “We have to win all our games,” he said. “Perhaps five wins and a draw is the minimum, but we would [still] have to win at Old Trafford. Six wins would be better. United are an excellent team, but they can still lose points.”
Rafael Benítez will face criticism if he fields a weakened team today and Arsenal win handsomely, yet if needs must, the pragmatic Spaniard is not afraid to act. Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel are likely to be rested before the concluding chapter of the triple-header.
“I will need to think carefully about my team for the league match,” Benítez said. “Torres and Gerrard will need to be strong for the second leg and Kuyt ran himself to a standstill on Wednesday. Some players recover in two or three days, others need four. Maybe we will need to change some players. I am expecting to make changes. It is impossible to play these same players three times in a week.”
Babel agreed. “The boss will have to make the decisions on who to start and who to rest,” the Holland forward said. “It will be impossible to play with the same XI in three games against Arsenal. In this situation, I think rotation is maybe good.”
Javier Mascherano, the midfield player, will not play this afternoon because of suspension. He has served the mandatory one-match ban for his sending-off in the 3-0 defeat by United two weeks ago but was handed a further two-match ban after admitting a charge of “improper conduct” for remonstrating with Steve Bennett, the referee.
Liverpool have appealed to the FA against the extra penalty in the hope that it will be reduced to one match. If successful, Mascherano will be free to play against Blackburn Rovers tomorrow week.
Wenger expects Liverpool to play a cagey game on Tuesday, perhaps opting for a goalless draw and a route to the semi-finals on the away goals rule. “They will try to defend and catch us on the break,” he said. “They don't have to come out, but we will try to play our own game and have a go at them.”
different spec tomorrow Reg had to call a favour in for this one.
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, that's why you said "I wouldn't risk Torres back for this game" before the Barnsley game.
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