Arsenal v Liverpool Preview

February 15, 2014
By: Deke Hardman

Arsene Wenger

The weekend’s round of FA Cup fixtures concludes at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon as Arsenal take on Liverpool.

The two sides met at Anfield with Brendan Rodgers’ men thumping the then league leaders 5-1, with four of the Reds’ goals coming inside the opening twenty minutes of the game, though it was Arsene Wenger’s side who ran out winners when pair faced off in North London back in November.

The Gunners, who followed their disappointment on Merseyside with a goalless draw against Premier League champions Manchester United at the Emirates on Wednesday evening, have Mathieu Flamini available following a three match ban, but Santi Cazorla could miss out through illness.

Theo Walcott, Abou Diably, Aaron Ramsey, Kim Kallstrom all remain side-line, though Thomas Vermaelen could return in defence, with Wenger sure to have one eye on Wednesday evening’s Champions League clash with holders Bayern Munich.

Top scorer Olivier Giroud is 7.5 (13/2) to get the first goal of the game, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain temptingly priced at 15.0 (14/1) with Sky Bet.

There is barely anything between the sides in the eyes of the bookmakers, with Arsenal 2.75 (7/4) with Bet 365 and Liverpool 2.7 (17/10) with William Hill. The draw is widely available at 3.5 (5/2).

The visitors go in to the game on the back of Wednesday evening’s dramatic 3-2 victory at Fulham, a result which extended their unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions.

Glen Johnson is still out along with Lucas, Mamadou Sakho and Jose Enrique though Daniel Agger could return to the Reds’ starting line-up after making a cameo appearance at Craven Cottage, while 21 year old midfielder Joao Carlos Teixeira, who also came on late midweek to make his debut, may play some part.

Luis Suarez is favourite to open the scoring at 5.5 (9/2) with a number of firms, with Daniel Sturridge, who has netted in each of his last eight matches, 7.0 (6/1) with most bookmakers.

Liverpool may be favourites, but Arsenal have an astonishing record of twelve clean sheets in their last thirteen games in front of their own fans.

Another Gunners clean sheet this time around is 4.33 (10/3) with Coral, while a home victory to nil can be backed at 6.0 (5/1) with the same firm.

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