Liverpool will face off against Arsenal at Anfield once again on Thursday night, but this time, they will be doing so in the fourth round of the EFL Cup. The Reds secured a comfortable 3-1 victory over the Gunners in the Premier League earlier this week which will keep them in high spirits heading into this cup clash in midweek.
Talking Tactics
Jurgen Klopp will probably opt for a 4-3-3 formation as he looks to rest all of his first-team stars for the Premier League trip to Aston Villa this weekend. We can expect the home side to enjoy more of the possession as they look to carve open the opposition defence using their pace and intensity up top.
Mikel Arteta will set his side up in a 3-4-3 formation as he instructs his players to be brave by beating the Liverpool press as they play their way out from the back. The North London outfit will look to cause a few problems for the opposition defenders using the quickness and agility of Reiss Nelson and Nicolas Pepe on the counter.
Team News
Liverpool
Klopp is expected to opt for a completely different first-team than the one that started in the 3-1 win over the Gunners a few days ago. The likes of Thiago Alcantara, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Konstantinos Tsimikas and Joel Matip will all miss out on this encounter.
Liverpool Predicted XI
Adrian, Milner, van den Berg, Gomez, Williams, Jones, Grujic, Shaqiri, Origi, Minamino, Jota
Arsenal
Arteta will probably offer Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson a chance to make his debut for Arsenal in midweek. Cedric Soares is a significant doubt for this game and will be in a race against time to be fit on Thursday. However, this game would come too early for Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who is still on the mend.
Arsenal Predicted XI
Runarsson, Kolasinac, Gabriel, Saliba, Saka, Elneny, Willock, Cedric, Nelson, Nketiah, Pepe
Key Men
Liverpool
Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota and Takumi Minamino have been amongst the goals for the Reds of late, so they will all try to get their decent run of form going when the Gunners come to Anfield in midweek. Sepp van den Berg can also expect a challenging battle while going up against Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah, so he needs to pass the test with flying colours if the home side are to restrict the opposition from scoring.
Arsenal
The partnership between Bukayo Saka and Reiss Nelson on the left flank could cause a lot of problems for the Reds on the counter. The dynamic wing duo has the potential to do some major damage if they can get the better of Neco Williams. Rúnarsson is expected to make his debut, but he will be in for a tough night’s work as the Liverpool attackers are likely to test his shot-stopping ability numerous times during the 90 minutes.
Odds
The Merseyside giants are the slight favourites to win this EFL Cup clash as they are priced at 19/20. The draw has been listed at 29/10 while the Gunners are 5/2 underdogs to pick up an upset win at Anfield on Thursday night.
