Arsenal v Liverpool – live!
Rumours persist that various Arsenal
players have been waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the
night this week. They've all
been having nightmares. "Oh God. It was … terrible … there was
red … red flashes … a red tide … more red, a blur of red … it
just kept on coming … so much red … red shirts, red shirts there,
red shirts everywhere … goals … noise … people refusing to walk
alone … a smug man on the touchline with glowing teeth … Suarez …
Sturridge … Sterling … Skrtel
… Oh
God … it's all coming back to me – Skrtel … two goals for
Martin Skrtel … did that really happen?"Anyway,
Liverpool again. Suarez.
Sturridge. Sterling. Skrtel. A Liverpool side that is growing in belief each week. The thought of it would be enough to reduce lesser teams to a
gibbering, shivering, weeping wreck – but not Arsenal, says Arsene Wenger. This, he says, is a game that Arsenal want to play, a chance to right the wrongs of last Saturday's humiliation at Anfield, when Arsenal were blown away by Liverpool in 20 of the stupidest minutes of football we're likely to see for a very long time. But whether Wenger is telling the truth remains to be seen. There's the small matter of Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, meaning that Arsenal might rest players, and then the bigger matter of Arsenal being dragged to the cleaners by Liverpool eight days ago, where they were given wedgies and soap was poured into their eyes. Arsenal will maintain that it won't have had an impact on their mental state but I know which dressing room I'd rather be in right now (clue: the one with the envelopes). For Arsenal, this is a chance to answer the critics and restore momentum; for Liverpool, it is a chance to show us again that Brendan Rodgers is building something special. Four points off the top of the league, their late win over Fulham on Wednesday proved that they can also win ugly when they have all that said, perhaps we will get a reaction from Arsenal. They certainly need one. While the defeat to Liverpool can be considered a freak, perhaps a more pertinent accusation that can be levelled against Arsenal is that they haven't been playing well for a while. Chances to prove their credentials have been frittered away against Chelsea, Everton, Manchester City and Manchester United. Perhaps their last convincing performance came in the 2-0 win over Liverpool at the Emirates on 1 March, at a time when Aaron Ramsey, who's now out injured, was in peerless form, Mesut Ozil was playing like a £42.5m player, Olivier Giroud didn't look knackered and Arsenal
