Once again, we still don’t know whether this game will be played. The uncertainty around tomorrow now centers on Arsenal, as they have had their own COVID outbreak, injuries, and a group of players having left for AFCON.
There’s some speculation that, if Arsenal cannot play tomorrow, that next week’s match (Thursday at the Emirates) may become the only leg of this semifinal. Hard to know. Both legs of the other semi have now been completed, with Chelsea defeating Tottenham by an aggregate score of 3-0.
Assuming the game tomorrow goes forward, I expect LFC to field a strong team. We’ll play Brentford at Anfield on Sunday, which is adequate recovery time, especially for a team that should be well-rested going into tomorrow.
Thiago and Origi are still injured. Salah, Mané, and Keïta are away. But, I believe everyone else of note is available.
Arsenal have generally struggled against Liverpool in the Klopp era. I believe that’s because Arsenal generally take a front-foot approach, and leave too much space into which Liverpool can play. Arteta is a smart guy, however. Especially in light of Arsenal’s apparently depleted ranks for tomorrow, along with the drubbing we gave them a few weeks ago at Anfield, I expect Arteta to take a more measured approach tomorrow at Anfield. Drop most of the team deep, while leaving two or three attackers fairly high up the pitch. When you regain the ball, you immediately launch it over the midfield in an effort to create opportunities behind LFC’s high defensive line. It’s not rocket science. Chelsea managed to walk more of a tightrope, by pressing LFC through most of the match, while cutting off not only our preferred passing lanes, but also steering the ball away from our best long passer (VVD). Arteta might try to mimic the Chelsea tactics, as opposed to limiting himself to dropping deep and countering. But again, in light of historical failures and depleted personnel, I expect a more defensive approach from Arsenal tomorrow.
Here’s my guess at our lineup:
Gomez is just a stab in the dark based on the fact that he’s not had much playing time, VVD played the FA Cup match on Sunday, and SOME rotation would be good over the next couple of weeks. Based on that same reasoning, we might see Curtis Jones start as a forward, and have either Firmino or Jota come off the bench to save their legs for later matches. I’ll be pretty surprised if Minamino doesn’t start. Alisson could play, and I think many LFC fans expect him to start, given that we’ve gotten to this late stage. However, I suspect that Kelleher has been promised ALL of the domestic cup matches, regardless of how far we get. He’s a very good young keeper, and Klopp will want to keep him happy. Tsimikas is also a strong possibility for this one.
I think we will lack rhythm without Salah, Mané, and especially Thiago, and Arsenal will be relatively stingy. I’m expecting a fairly drab affair, without many scoring opportunities on either side.
LFC 1 – Arsenal 0
