Arsenal News 24/7Writer: Brice Coffer 
Date:Saturday December 12 2009
Time: 7:29AM
UK time is: 05:20:48
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'If It's Football, It's Vital'
Liverpool vs. Arsenal
Anfield
13/12/09
16:00
On Sky
Liverpool v. Arsenal
I have an embarrassing confession to make. I thought Liverpool was going to be the title contender this year. I know, I know, laugh all you want. I knew their squad was pathetically thin, but I just had this feeling they were going to get lucky with injuries. Obviously, that was not the case, and, in fact, it was the complete opposite. I should start thinking that about all our rivals next season.
Unfortunately for us, tomorrow we won't face the same team that crashed out of Europe's premier competition before the final matchday. We will see the team that handled Manchester United with consummate ease. Arsene's troops have already failed their three biggest tests of the season, so they can't fall short again.
Vital Quotes:
This has nothing to do with Sunday's match, but I think we can all let out a sigh of relief because of these eight words.
'There is no truth in the Pavlyuchenko stories,' said Arsene Wenger.
Liverpool Team News:
According to Rafa, Liverpool's season starts on Sunday. Fernando Torres will start his first league match in six weeks, and summer signing Alberto Aquilani could also start. The Italian looked a class act in his Carling Cup cameo at the Grove. Babel is a doubt. Crap, I wanted him to play.
Player to watch: Steven Gerrard
England's best player (and best diver) was not happy with his sides performance against Fiorentina. I can guarantee you he'll have a good game tomorrow.
Arsenal Team News:
There is no new injuries to report because none of the starters, bar Song, traveled to Greece. Eduardo and Diaby could return, but they are listed as doubtful. Bendtner has suffered a setback which will keep him out until the New Year. Clichy, Djourou, Gibbs, van Persie, Rosicky, and Eboue will be missing.
Who will start in goal? Fabianski had a strong outing against Olympiakos, but has that earned him a chance at Anfield? We will have to see.
My Predicted Starting XI: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Traore, Song, Denilson, Fabregas, Walcott, Nasri, Arshavin
Player to watch: Andrey Arshavin
Who else? The only player to score 4 goals and still not play a good game. I thought his movement and defending for most of last year's roller coaster match was poor. Hopefully he gets played in the lone spot up front and plays like he did against Stoke.
Ref Watch:
Coward Webb, ****. Enough said.
Match Prediction:
Arsenal hasn't won at Anfield since our four day smash and grab in 2007. I don't see that changing. Another draw it is. 4-4 anyone?
Next Fixtures:
16/12 (Wed) - Burnley (a) - Premier League
19/12 (Sat) - Hull City (h) - Premier League
27/12 (Sun) - Aston Villa (h) - Premier League
The match will be on SS1 in England, and FSC in the States.
Have a good weekend Gooners!
Your Comments
Coward Webb - So true. He costs us 3 points a season at Old Trafford
HuddersfieldYiddo
No need to be embarrassed about thinking Liverpool were going to do the business this season, I'm sure about 50000 scousers and an assortment of pundits were of the same opinion in August. I thought that l'arse Chelsea and the scousers would all be battling it out at the top with Manure falling away. I got the Chelsea bit right, today's game will reveal whether the Arsenal part of my prediction will come true or not.
fifthcolumnblue
Despite the rivalry I have always enjoyed the game between the two teams and I know most Arsenal supporters have a lot of respect for Liverpool especially the fans. Thiery Henry once commented that he would choose Liverpool over any other club in the UK, Arshavin made positive comments about the Liverpool fans also. With both Chelski and Manure dropping points it would be an interesting game. My gut feeling is a 1 - 1 draw although I pray we nick it though.
phreddy
this has really become the game of our season now. we couldn't have asked for a better set of results today. if this Arsenal team is serious about winning the league, then winning tomm is a must. can't blow this one away cuz we wouldn'get a better chance than this to comeback in the title race. liverpool will definetly make the top 4 cuz seems like no one else is really interested in taking it, so i hope they come with their champions league form tomm. i got no predictions cuz all i want is an Arsenal win. dun care about the performance whether we are good or played off the park, this time it's all about the result..
luckys_10
Amazing how the key results went today, which has now drawn more attention to the game tomorrow. It is not a must-win, really, as a draw will not be so bad. For me, I will take a draw everytime, so long as we continue to take 3 points off the smaller teams. That kind of form is what has proved to win the EPL, rather than the form against the top 4 sides. By the way, did anyone see the dive by Rooney today (Man U v Villa) and how the commentators were,shamelessly, trying to almost force the replays to "show there was contact"? The culprit made no bones about his resultant yellow card, yet the commentators were suggesting he didn't dive. I only hope we won't have to moan about Coward Webb tomorrow.
Naijagunner
If they want to crack down on diving then they need to crack down on the big english players who regularly dive. Rooney, Gerrard, Young etc. I dont want to mention Spurs, but i feel i must at least say that Lenon, Defoe and for part of the game Modric played and they still lost.
paul_ownz
I really think that tommorow is a must win game if we want to win the title. Only so many points that Chelsea & Man United will drop and we need to make the most out of it. We have already lost 3 games against the other title contenders(city included). With Liverpool on bad form its as good a time to play them.
paul_ownz
Dont pin your hopes high guys.. I predict a loss.
Sajit
Not that I don't think we can win, but these "must win" games usually appear to put too much pressure on the boys and what we get is tactical indiscipline, after things start to go awry (not according to a written script). My thoughts are that if we can get most maximum points against lower placed sides, it won't matter how many we take off the top 4 contenders in order to aspire for the title.
...Sajit, I predict a loss too; for Liverpool.
Naijagunner
I predict 1 - 1!
Rune3k
gerrard goes down before contact with Gallas, no big surprise there. Ironically, if he'd have stayed on his feet he probably would have won the penalty
TPowell
You reap what you sow Gerrard you c***. Serves you right. It was a nailed on pen and I'm glad it was too.
Rocky7
Prick is at it again, taking a dive to win the free kick and to try and get Denilson sent off. And of course they score from it. W***er.
Rocky7
ALMUNIA again
ajwb
Please give Fabianski a game Wenger. With regards to the game, we've no chance of winning this match unless either Wenger changes it up someway or Liverpool knacker themselves out.
Rocky7
As much as I hate to see the way Gerrard got the free kick, it's the English commentary that's even more infuriating. Incredibly baise.
GoonerLou
biased.
GoonerLou
Keep hold of the ball and we can make chances,seems its bouncing around off everybody
ajwb
Is it just me? I've always liked Torres as a player. But he's become a bit of a ******** in the past year or so.
GoonerLou
ajwb I totally agree with you. We should play our own game. Why r we trying to log the ball to Arsharvin, he is too short, we should take on the defenders instead with our speed.
phreddy
You can count on us to give Liverpool a hand up when they're down.Tactically we knew Liverpool would come out of the blocks at 100mph. Why our lot try to ride tackles instead of winning the free kicks and getting their thugs booked I don't know. We certainly invite the challenges and its a wonder no one has been injured yet.
Some shocking passing from us at the moment. Need a bit more aggression 2nd half or we'll pass up a golden opportunity to make up ground on the leaders.
Wyn Mills
I agree about the bias Lou (though it's no new thing). Ian St. John in the studio .... "Steven got a bit of a soft one" and then chuckles. I hope Arshavin goes down with a blatent dive for the winning pen ... and lets see what happens then.
Rocky7
We just look so **** nervous! Nobody wants the ball, and when they do they're just getting rid of it in the general direction of a blue shirt, almost ignoring the red ones. Like ajwb says, we just need to get some possession and control on the game at the start of the 2nd half and go from there. And Arshavin is trying too hard to play like a striker, he needs to be more natural - drop deeper occaisionally and let Sam and particularly Theo make more central runs, Theo can't hold the ball up deep, and his crossing is poor anyway, even when the only target is 5'6.
ArsenalRob
nothing new.. arshavin has had absolutely no service.. walcott and nasri have done nothing today..no intensity, there's only one team out there who is playing for the win..i've given up, nothing this season for us.
McGooner
Get in. Great start to the second half. Maybe if we can get their heads to drop we can get in here.
Rocky7
YEEEEES some fockin good luck finallly! 1-1
ajwb
Hahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahah hahhaha, cough cough, hahahhahaha, gasp, hcahahahahahhahahahahah
GoonerLou
We need to play a really high tempo now and press these buggers. If we let them get back into their stride we'll lose. We need to be proactive and not reactive.
Rocky7
YYEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!
Rocky7
WHAT A STRIKE!!!
GoonerLou
what a finish !! arshavin <3
ajwb
i love you arshavin
arseneknows
i love you arshavin
arseneknows
Gerrard is a first class c***.
Rocky7
Exactly the right word for gerrard,rocky7
ajwb
Diaby getting ready.. hmm...
GoonerLou
This is more like Arsenal. We've knocked the stuffing out of them, and their willingness to press, giving us more time on the ball and more dominance. Keep it up fellers.
Rocky7
Yes exactly right about Gerrard Rocky! Also as I said, Torres has learnt quite a bit from him apparently. The way he refused to give the ball to Nasri was almost Drogba-esque.
GoonerLou
*****in Gerrard trying to stamp on Song now. Dispicible ******** he is.
Rocky7
And how did Gerrard's foul on Song go unnoticed but Verm's on Torres got them a free kick?!
GoonerLou
We have a lot of recent history of throwing things away late on at Anfield. Let's make amends.
ArsenalRob
Ok, we're officially out of left backs.
Rocky7
Are we using Everton's famous 4-6-0 formation now? lol
GoonerLou
What a win!! What a win!! Hahahahahahaha. I love football so much!!
Rocky7
what a SWEET sweet win.Second half was great from us
ajwb
Yessssssssssssssssssssssss. Yessessssssssssssssssssssssssss. However........ I want almunia benched!
DBerg
fortuitous to level, brilliant strike to take the lead, and an imperious effort to kill off the game (other than Almunia)
TPowell
If we had been that ruthless in other games, we'd be sitting on top of the league right now. I've still got major worries about our injuries (that apparently got worse today), but I'm not going to worry about that now, I'm going to enjoy this sweet sweet victory. Stick that in yer pipe Gerrard you dick spalsh.
Rocky7
Song is just too much, I loved the way he snuffed everything L'pool had to offer especialy GERARD. Gallas and Verminator are just surperb. That Arsharvin goal what a beauty. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOw!!
phreddy
We got we deserved in the end. 2nd half was completely different. I think Liverpool ran out of steam cos they stopped closing us down and we started to play. Great strike from Arshavin who knows exactly where the goal is. Excellent result.
Wyn Mills
Never been so proud of this group of players. Holding onto a win, at Anfield, in a game we looked out of. Brilliant
gunnerkid107
I love this club so much!!
GoonerLou
I sure hope Andrei 'the match winner' Arshavin isn't hurt too bad...
TPowell
Cesc says Wenger screamed at them at half time like he'd never seen before. Well played Arsene!
Rocky7
Cesc also said Wenger screamed that they didn't deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt.
gunnerkid107
MOTM? Arsene Wenger!!
Rocky7
It got a good response ;o)
ajwb
Smudger made a good point, that was Liverpool's strongest team .... it was nowhere near ours!! Excellent win.
Rocky7
a lot of character and grit shown by the players today.. but it does not hide the fact that weren't very creative today.. it was a strike from a different planet by arshavin, deserving to win any game.. fact, we only had 1 effort on goal and scored 2 goals..defensively we're getting there, offensively we need a bit more, hopefully bendtner/eduardo can provide that
McGooner
What a time for this bugger to start working for me. GET IN LADS!!!!
Tom14
It's a good point McGooner, but one that has been taken out of our hands really. We've had so many injuries to key players that it's always going to be a struggle. If we can keep this up until we get our players back (and maybe sign one or two more Arsene?) then we'll be ok. I still think we'll fall short, but at least we're making a fist of it.
Rocky7
Have to say im delighted by this result, thanks to that little Russian fcker and bet in play im rich!!!!!!!!!
HuddersfieldYiddo
hooooooooooooooofffffffff!!!!!
TPowell
You can't really be creative against a team with such a defensive emphasis, and quality defenders to back that up. These games are ones you just hope to win and get on with it.
Tom14
No one mentioned that Torres was offside on the build up to the Peanlty claim. Unless their is someone on the otherside of the pitch who i cant see on screen he was a a yard offside.
paul_ownz
Jamie Redknapp is a loathesome ***** too. Ian St.John is in the Sky Sports stuido and has reffered to Liverpool as "we" through out the afternoon, and all of a sudden Redknapp started doing the same thing after the match. What a sheep.
Rocky7
Did Redknapp just say that Pepe Reina was the best keeper in the world?
paul_ownz
Does anyone else love seeing Jamie Redknapp almost cry!!!! hahaha ****!!
Dan_83
lUCAS, lIVERPOOL'S BEST PLAYER IN THE GAME, GETS ALL THE STICK. Can't be arsed changing that back...
Tom14
also why does redknapp say "we" ... he says it everytime spurs play as well.... GET HIM OFF THE TELE!
Dan_83
It's official: PERFECT WEEKEND achieved!!
GoonerLou
true Lou
Tom14
back in the race boys. loved the team talk by wenger, yu ain't worthy to wear the arsenal shirt and stuff like that amazing. more of it please..
luckys_10
Perfect weekend...let's continue this good run come midweek at burnley...i'm going to start the week with a big smile on my face... :)
jess_farenesh
Football65 sums it up well: 'After not turning up for the first forty-five minutes, Arsenal turned it around at Anfield to win 2-1 and put themselves back in the title race. For Liverpool, it just goes from bad to worse. Incredibly, they did not even manage a single shot on target during the second-half. And Steven Gerrard's behaviour is now embarrassing ...' :D
GoonerLou
and btw we really need a new goalie now. i've lost all hopes of Almunia actually getting better. i'd take mad Jens back on loan for the rest of the season :p
luckys_10
Yeah...Wenger needs to remind the players more that they are playing for a club with history and a tradition. That sort of motivation is what wins matches. Get the frickin' hairdryer going once every so often so that we start winning those 50-50 balls.
Wyn Mills
16 conclusions from the game, fair points: http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8742_5769631,00.html
GoonerLou
and Vermaelen was a rock at the back. he just keeps getting better n better..
luckys_10
this win also has a lot of similarities to our last league win at anfield. pool's right midfielder then harry kewell scored da opener, kuyt now, hyppia own goal for our equaliser, johnson now and a screamer from pires n arshavin for the winner..
luckys_10
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