Liverpool vs Arsenal: the Gunners to Make it into the Finals

This midweek the postponed English League Cup match between Liverpool and Arsenal occurs. Will we see the same as last year's encounter, or will Arsenal again upset the Merseysiders in the League Cup for the second year?

Liverpool competes surprisingly long in Jürgen Klopp's unloved tournament. Without Salah, Mané and Keïta, the path will be cut short in the semifinals. Nevertheless, the Reds encountered Norwich, Preston North End and Leicester. With the last one, it was the most dramatic and suspenseful. Merseysiders were close to relegation, losing 1:3, but escaped defeat in the final minutes of extra time. Then they made it into a penalty shootout at the end of a tether. Without the same three players, Liverpool defeated 4:1 Shrewsbury Town. Now we have to evaluate the club in the game against a higher level opponent.

Arsenal had a straightforward lot on the way to the semifinal: West Bromwich (6:0), Wimbledon (3:0), Leeds (2:0) and Sunderland (5:1). It seems that the Canaries beat these teams without even noticing. However, 2022 started badly - in the equal match, they lost to Man City in the last minutes (1:2). Then the Canaries dropped out of the FA Cup, losing to Nottingham Forest (0:1). None of the ten shots was directed at the goal. Let's see how quickly Mikel Arteta's team come to their senses.

Liverpool and Arsenal have met 235 times. The score of head-to-head meetings is 91:80 in favour of Liverpool. Lately, Liverpool got victories more often, especially in the APL. Last season, the Reds quickly dealt with the Canaries - 3:1 at home and 3:0 away. In the match of the first round, we again observed the difference in level on the scoreboard (4:0). However, the Canaries managed to rehabilitate themselves in the last League Cup, knocking Liverpool out of the tournament at Anfield, enduring 90 minutes without a single goal being scored. The visiting London team were luckier in the penalty shootout.

We believe that Liverpool will have the initiative, which will be reflected in the number of corners. We propose a 2.5 handicap in favour of the Reds. Also, we think their meeting will be as suspenseful as in the fall of 2019, when the main time ended with a score of 5:5. Therefore, paying attention to the bet "both score in the 1st half" makes sense.

In conclusion, we assume that in the absence of Salah and Mane, Diogo Jota will take over the function of a scorer.