3 things that could decide the Arsenal vs Liverpool tie

Liverpool’s defensive line, will it be 3 or will it be 4?

Having tasted success with the new 3-5-2 formation, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers looks highly unlikely to switch back to his old formation.

The defence has done pretty well for Liverpool, having orchestrated into conceding only 8 goals this season and their goal keeper Simon Mignolet keeping three vital clean sheets in his 9 matches between the posts in the Premier League.

However, Brendan Rodgers is familiar with this Arsenal side and their small passing game and he knows that, to stop Arsenal players in their current form it would take more than just three of his defenders to stop their attack. If Rodgers changes his formation and switches back to 4 defenders then it would be interesting to see whether he brings back Daniel Agger, who has started only 4 Premier League games for Liverpool so far this season.

With a 3-5-2 formation, the Liverpool defenders have to be on their toes to counter the quick pace of Mesut Özil, Jack Wilshere and others. This formation could mean that Bacary Sagna and Keiran Gibbs will find it a bit easy to shoot crosses into the box and Giroud would try and meet the cross with his head or even try and volley them into the back of the net.

This is going to be a very tough fixture, mentally as well as physically for both the teams, as Liverpool would be hoping to try and leapfrog Arsenal to the first place, whereas Arsenal would try and strengthen their grip on the top of the Premier League table.