Liverpool vs Arsenal: Gunners want to stay narrow, press hard and go direct but will it be enough?

Arsenal need to stay narrow, go direct and press hard but will it be enough to beat Liverpool in their Premier League clash on Saturday?

Our friends over at Pain In The Arsenal have devised a three point plan that they think will help the Gunners beat the Reds at Anfield.

PITA spoke very highly of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool the whole way through the article, and they certainly make some good points. The Reds are brilliant out wide, with two of the finest attacking full-backs in the Premier League right now and Arsenal constricting the field makes sense in that respect.

If they can limit Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold from having an impact down the flanks, then it will help them to get a result. But with Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah drifting inside, it’ll be too much of a challenge to cover those areas and stop the ball being worked out wide.

If the full-backs or central defenders see Mane or Salah cutting from outside to in, they will have to follow the run of two of the most deadly forwards in the league today. That is bound to leave space outside the Africans for Robbo and Alexander-Arnold to operate.

Their thought that Arsenal need to go direct also has merit: if the Reds have flooded up field, a long ball over the top that utilises the pace of their forward line could work – especially without Alisson Becker in goal.

But, that discounts the fact that Virgil van Dijk is brilliant in his positioning, is quick and strong in the air. Joel Matip and Joe Gomez are no slouches either.

A high press isn’t a bad idea either – but Matip is accomplished on the ball, as if van Dijk and the rest of the back-line. Liverpool just need to be careful and make sure that Adrian isn’t pressed too quickly, as happened in the build up to Danny Ings’ goal for Southampton.

Arsenal are an excellent side who have improved since last season, but Liverpool should still have too much for the Gunners to handle.