One of the Premier League opening weekend matches the landlord of the Football Transfer Tavern is looking forward to most is Arsenal vs Liverpool on Sunday.
The tavern will be full of punters coming in to watch the game as two Champions League hopefuls come together to show their intent for the season.
Arsenal will be confident going into the season, after they managed to finish last year in second place, despite being far from their best in that season.
The Arsenal supporters at the bar will be hoping for a good start to the season, but Arsene Wenger has announced that Arsenal will be without Mesut Ozil, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud due to their participation in Euro 2016.
This is how Arsenal will be able to use the 4-3-3 formation to overcome Liverpool and get their Premier League season off to a winning start…..
GOALKEEPER: Petr Cech
Petr Cech won the golden glove award last season and is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.
His shot stopping is brilliant and the presence that he has will give his team mates confidence and allow them to play their game without worrying about their keeper.
Liverpool will have a challenge beating him because of his quality.
RIGHT BACK: Hector Bellerin
The pacey right back has truly secured the right back spot and is now one of the first players Arsene Wenger puts on the team sheet. He is brilliant both going forward and backwards and will be a key player if Arsenal are to overcome Liverpool. Liverpool haven’t signed a new left back yet and that is an area where they are weak, so Bellerin could look to exploit that.
CENTRE BACK: Gabriel
He has had a mixed time at Arsenal, as he has been brilliant and dismal in equal measure throughout his time at the club.
Punters supporting Arsenal will hope that he has one of his good games, as if he doesn’t, Liverpool could run riot.
He is going to be the leading centre back, as it is likely to be either Calum Chambers or Rob Holding partnering him and the two of them are relatively inexperienced.
CENTRE BACK: Rob Holding
Holding has impressed Arsene Wenger since signing from Bolton Wanderers and could be thrown in at the deep end due to the fact that both Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny are unavailable.
Calum Chambers will be disappointed if he doesn’t get to play in the circumstances, but with Holding having been played regularly, it could give him the edge over his fellow Englishman.
LEFT BACK: Nacho Monreal
Monreal overtook Kieran Gibbs as Arsenal’s first choice left back and has been holding down his first team place ever since.
He is more defensive than his fellow full back Bellerin, but that helps to give Arsenal balance.
He will give the Arsenal centre backs a lot of support and will be difficult to beat for whoever plays on the right hand side for Liverpool.
CENTRE MIDFIELDER: Aaron Ramsey
Ramsey has a tremendous Euro 2016 campaign and one of Wales’ standout performers.
One thing learned from watching him at the summer competition is that for anyone who didn’t already know, he is a much better midfielder than he is a winger.
Punters supporting Arsenal will hope to see him running the game from midfield, rather than languishing on the wings.
CENTRE MIDFIELDER: Granit Xhaka
The summer signing will add both steel and style to Arsenal’s midfield.
He is a tough tackling midfielder who also has brilliant technical ability and he should be able to link up brilliantly with Arsenal’s attacking players, while also covering them defensively.
He will be the one out of the three midfielders that holds more and allows the other ones a little bit more freedom to roam.
CENTRE MIDFIELDER: Santi Cazorla
Arsenal’s little magician will orchestrate the Gunners’ attacks in Ozil’s absence.
He has tremendous technical ability, whether that regards his dribbling, passing or shooting and he will help Arsenal to break down Liverpool’s defence.
The Spaniard isn’t the tallest or strongest, but the contrast between him and Xhaka will work well for Arsenal.
RIGHT WING: Alex Iwobi
Alex Iwobi burst onto the scene at Arsenal and punters watching the Gunners have been bigging him up ever since he played against Barcelona, and then scored two goals in his first two Premier League games.
Iwobi is a brilliant prospect and may be pushing the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain out of the Arsenal picture, and if he features against Liverpool, his powerful play could hurt Liverpool’s left-back and result in goals for Arsenal.
CENTRE FORWARD: Alexis Sanchez
With Olivier Giroud unavailable, Arsene Wenger will either have Chuba Akpom as the focal point of Arsenal’s attack or could have Alexis Sanchez weaving in and out of the focal role.
If Wenger vows for the second option, Liverpool defenders won’t know who to mark, as the Chilean star would not just stay on the last defender.
He will drift between the wings and central positions and cause havoc for the whole of the Liverpool defence.
LEFT WING: Joel Campbell
Joel Campbell could be a very useful tool when it comes to playing against Liverpool.
The Costa Rica international is willing to sacrifice himself for the team and work back defensively, which will help when dealing with Liverpool’s Nathaniel Clyne.
Campbell is also very good going forward and if he and Sanchez play together, the two could switch positions throughout the game and cause a lot of confusion for Liverpool, something that could prove productive.
