Score: 0-2
Verdict: 3 points won
Comments:
Dalglish dealt a blow to Arsenal’s already depleted side and a mental blow to their players. Seeing two of the team’s star players wanting to leave/leaving cannot be easy on the rest of the team. Especially when the results starts going bad. To add to their leaving players, Arsenal has got injury problems and now two players on suspension for red cards received in the first and second games of the season. Arsenal travels to Manchester United next and it won’t be an easy game for them. If Arsenal doesn’t buy any quality players before that game, Arsenal most probably will end up with just a single point from their opening three matches. It is still early in the season for them, but it doesn’t bode well.
Liverpool will be happy with their away win and will be looking forward to entertain Bolton at Anfield next. Dalglish seems to be still undecided about the best right back as he switched back to Martin Kelly for this match but the opposite is true for the midfield. He has started Lucas, Downing, Adam and Henderson in both opening matches and look for it to continue until Gerard becomes available again. Suarez started off the bench to score the second goal while Carroll didn’t manage to get on the scoresheet before he was substituted after 70 minutes. I believe that Suarez will get the nod for next week’s match if Dalglish decides to go with just one striker.
Next week: Liverpool v Bolton
Thoughts ahead:
Bolton lost to Manchester City 2-3 this week but has showed promise in their scoring department, scoring 6 goals in two games. Liverpool need to be wary of this. Ivan Klasnic has scored in both games for Bolton but so has Suarez. I think that Dalglish will play two strikers upfront again for this home game. But I would like to see Meireles starting this game in a 4-3-3 formation where Lucas, Meireles and Adams hold the midfield while Downing and Suarez roams the wings and Carroll upfront to capitalize on crosses into the box. Kuyt instead of Suarez and Suarez instead of Carroll would be good too. This will not be a very high scoring match but I doubt it will be a goalless draw either. I think that Liverpool just had a massive boost of confidence and the new signings should be celebrating their first Anfield victory this weekend.
Predicted score: 2-1
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