.Because of Sunderland draw our away game with Arsenal is now very important. Liverpool needs something from this game.Two points dropped at home is not good.
We must beat Arsenal and if we do today's result wont seem too bad. We lose and we're already fighting an up hill battle. Kenny will tinker with his squad and hopefully make some better decisions (i.e. Kelly + Kuyt starting)
If we beat Arsenal then I think the supporters will be a lot more confident. None of us really know what to expect at the moment after so many new acquisitions they may need time to gel or they might never gel. It's hard to know, I'll be disheartened if we lose at Arsenal but I think we all need to remember a season is 38 games long and we realistically only need 80 or so points to guarantee top 4. That means we need to average 2.16 points a game from now on. If we can get at least 20 wins throughout the season then I can see us getting top 4.
I get that we need the win to get the ball rolling for our season, but 3 points is three points, doesn't matter the team. I think we are due our win at Emirates. Arsenal look OK right now against the toon but don't seem to have that bite up front. Gervinho is rapid, crafty, but so far really lacking in and around the box.
Chris Bevan's HT snap-shot: "Even without Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, Arsenal remains a pleasure to watch. Sadly for the Gunners, not even a lively debut up front by Gervinho has conjured up too much resembling an end product so far." Hopefully they continue this for us! lol.
I've been watching the Newcastle v Arsenal game and to be honest Arsenal were a poor shadow of the side that finished last season. They were not very good at all.
Arsenal didn't look too dangerous infront of goal. Keep Van Persie quiet and no one looks like they can score. Arshavin was terrible last season and looks like he wants to go back home. Gervinho will be banned so no need to worry about him. Walcott's pace is dangerous but Enrique should be able to keep up so shouldn't be too much of a problem. Newcastle didn't really threaten going forward but I think Carroll & Suarez will cause there defence all sorts of problems. Their keeper looks like he likes to come out and try and punch everything so only needs Carroll to get their first and could elad to a few goals.
If you can start like you did today and get an early goal, the Library crowd could turn on Wenger and the team - fickle twats that they are.
Look for song to maybe get a retrospective ban following his stomp on Barton's calf. Even if not, gervinho was their best attacking option by far, and the gooners will have to look elsewhere for inspiration.
I hope Song gets a ban because his their main cover for the back line. I disagree about Gervinho, I think Robin Van Persie is Arsenal's biggest threat and unless kept quiet might cause us a few problems.
Even if they sell fabs and Nasri and buy some big players (unlikely given wenger I know!!) they won't have time to bed in before next week... Added to that psychologically this whole saga must be taking it's toll on the other players with all the uncertainty and the way arsenal seems to be unable to hold onto the big names... All bodes well for us!
I should clarify myself. In the game today, gervinho was their biggest threat while van Perdue was kept quiet. Hopefully we ca do the same.
No, the Arsenal match is no more or less critical. We're hoping to finish above them as a direct rival so the Arsenal match was always a '6 pointer' Nearly all the rest are just a potential 3 points. Sometimes you drop points and that's bad but not the end of the world.
Gervinho was their main threat, RVP is unfit and Arshavin looks like he's had more pies than Shrek and Fat Frank and Anderson and Chamakh is out of favour. So I reckon, Arsenal are there for the taking next sunday. We just need to play as well as we did today in the first half for 90 minutes. There was nothing whatsoever wrong with the first half performance. It was the second half performance that wasn't up to scratch. I'm also convinced Andy Carrolls goal should have stood.
Sorry mate but you were that poor at Newcastle that even our 2nd half performance would have been troublesome for you. The attack was toothless and the midfield non-creative. As for the defence, and with all respect to Newcastle, they looked stretched coping with yet another toothless attack. If the Newcastle performance was an indicator of what your seson is going to be like then it's going to be long and dark! You not only looked unfit but you had no heart. It reminded me of our performances under Voy!
