Big game today. VERY big game. Made even bigger, even tougher, by the fact we have a number of question marks over players. We know Odegaard and Saliba are 100% out, we can be pretty sure about Calafiori, but what about Saka? Timber?

There are so many questions that we all want answered and all pray that we get positive answers from, such as:

  • Who is going to play left back and go head-to-head against Salah?
  • How are we going to handle Nunez, Diaz, Gakpo?
  • Will Martinelli get enough space against Trent?
  • What will Arteta do from a tactical perspective about Liverpool’s more measured build up and less front-to-back transition approach?
  • Where are our confidence levels after a few slightly questionable performances?
  • Is our season over if we lose?

Come 6.30pm all of these questions – and more – will be answered but until then, the nerves get dialled up to a 10 and I’ll be honest with you, I am less optimistic about our chances today than I would have been a couple of weeks back. I thought we’d have Odegaard back by now, I thought we’d take on Liverpool with us having a bit of swagger, I thought we’d be able to overcome them and I remember saying that after this Liverpool game ask me about our title chances. But as I sit here at my desk today tapping away at my laptop, I don’t have the same confidence of a few weeks ago.

Liverpool are a good team. A VERY good team. Slot has them playing his style and they are full of confidence. And confidence in elite sport is massive. The momentum is with them, they have their best players available bar Alisson, but losing your ‘keeper isn’t as big a blow as having your main creative outlet on the field missing. So we go in to this game with a lot to do. We need to do it quickly today.

A fast start – like we’ve had in our last four matches against (Saka on 14 minutes at home last season, Big Gabby at Anfield on four minutes at Christmas last year, Martinelli on eight minutes two seasons ago at Anfield and then Martinelli within seconds for the game at the Emirates two seasons ago) Liverpool, would go a long way to easing the tension that will be obvious inside the ground come 4.30pm. I heard on a podcast that Liverpool have only once gone behind this season, which was in the game they lost to Forest, so they’ve been very good at controlling the narrative and if they score first again today, you’d feel they’ll be fancying their chances of taking all three points. That’s because Arne Slot has redesigned this Liverpool team to be more structural sound defensively and they have not been as open as they were last season under Klopp. That defensive improvement absolutely makes them title contenders and whatever has worked for Arteta in the home games in the last two seasons, you get the feeling he’s going to have to need to have a different game plan and approach.

The hope is that we will get chances today, because the Chelsea game last weekend showed that they do give you chances. Liverpool have allowed 26 shots on their goal and their keeper – whoever it is – has the highest save percentage in the league, so we need our shooting boots on today and we need to be ready to take our chances. Chelsea were able to get joy through the middle of the park in cutting through Liverpool, so that’s where the battle needs to be won, so for my I’d have Partey, Rice and Trossard/Havertz doing that job. Merino is a duel monster, but he looked a little leggy against Shaktar when he came on and I feel like this is the kind of game in which we need players to be covering all of the ground, but also to have creativity and the eye for a pass to try to slice through Liverpool.

If Saka is fit (**crosses everything**) then the front three should be Martinelli, Havertz and Saka, but if not then we should be asking Gabriel Jesus to do the business on that right wing. It’s a downgrade on the Starboy, but he’s still a good player and I have hope that if he starts he’ll give Robertson a good game.

The problem we have – which is ironic given the volume of players at Arteta’s disposal normally – is our defence. No Saliba, no Tomiyasu, no Calafiori, Zinchenko has barely played, suggests it’ll be one of Kiwior or Lewis-Skelly up against Salah. Neither is an optimal situation, but we are where we are. On the other side if Timber is fit then he might come in at right back, but I would be surprised if he starts given that he’s only had one – maybe two – training sessions. So who plays right back if no Timber? Is it Ben White and then Kiwior at centre half? Maybe. But what I don’t want to see if Partey in there. He doesn’t do well in one-on-one duels and the likes of Diaz and Nunez would have plenty of joy on those flanks you’d think.

So all-in-all that patchwork defence is going to be really tested today and it feels really harsh that this season we’ve had player after player go down injured. Had we the likes of Saliba, White, Gabriel and Tomiyasu fit, I’d really fancy our chances today, but with the backline being as makeshift as it’s inevitably going to be, this could be a hard watch at times today, folks.

Let’s just hope that Arteta has a plan and let’s just hope that what we can do in that tacking third of the pitch can counter any potential defensive worries we have.

Right, that’s it from me today I think. I need to go and sweat out some of the nerves so I’ll park any further thoughts and save them for social media I think.

Have a great Sunday peeps – here’s to three points – fingers crossed.