Tomorrow is without a doubt the biggest test of the season for us so far, disappointing cup results need to be put behind us as we take on third place Liverpool who have been playing well this season. Mainly due to the racist up front partnering Sturridge, 2 of the leagues top 3 scorers.
Liverpool is always a test and we've been disappointing against them in the last few seasons so now is the perfect time to put that to bed and give us some breathing space from them at least. With a number of teams on our coat tails it's important that we take the points from these big games.
After watching our performance in the League Cup on Tuesday I'm not particularly confident about a result and I know it'll be a different team but there were some big names in the side that took on Chelsea and we just didn't look interested. The vital point when taking on Liverpool is the midfield, if we can shut off the supply to Suarez and Sturridge then we'll give them some problems. However with no Flamini someone is going to have to put in a defensive shift in order to keep them quiet.
So we're without Flamini and the rest of the bunch that are still injured, aside from that I think we'll see Arteta partner Ramsey in the holding role and he'll have to be at the top of his game if we're to get anything out of this match. Cazorla will take up his role on the left with Wilshere on the right and Ozil sitting behind Giroud.
In contrast Liverpool are set to see Coutinho return and the Brazilian will be a handful for us on and off the ball. They are still without Agger meaning Skrtel will sit in the middle of the defence with Toure and Sakho either side. That said I think Cazorla will cause Toure some problems, Toure is a good defender but age is starting to take its toll. The tricky Spaniard may have some joy down the left while Wilshere will have his work cut out against the powerful Sakho.
Tomorrow is the start of 4 tough games with Dortmund and United the following week and then an in form Southampton the week after. In terms of league games if we can take 7 points from our next 3 then I think we'll be in a healthy position going into the busy December period. We will be judged on the result tomorrow irrelevant on the result so best we turn up. COYG!
