Key events
Email! “Your reference to monomania,” writes Ian Copestake, had me envisaging Arteta as Ahab emerging from solitude in his cabin to pin on the mast as motivation for his crew in their pursuit of the white whale, a sixteen-dollar gold dossier doubloon. I tell you I would love it if at Anfield the Arsenal manager is indeed donning a peg-leg.”
Mikel Arteta meanwhile, opts for experience in midfield, with Bruno Guimaraes preferred to Myles Lewis-Skelly. Otherwise, with Bukaya Saka injured, it’s Noni Madueke not Eberechi Eze on the right wing, while Christos Tzolis returns from six weeks out to play on the left.
Exciting news as regards the Liverpool XI: Trey Nyoni, impressive in pre-season and when he’s played so far this, is handed a first Premier League start. That it’s in a game of this magnitude tells us how highly he’s rated by his manager, and tells Ryan Gravenberch that the competition has arrived. I really like what I’ve seen of him, and I expect him to establish himself as a regular starter.
Teams!
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Araujo, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Nyoni, Mac Allister; Barcola, Wirtz, Gakpo; Isak. Subs: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Szoboszlai, Tsimikas, Munoz, Gravenberch, Koumas, Ngumoha.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Raya; Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Guimaraes, Odegaard; Madueke, Havertz, Tzolis. Subs: Kepa, Mosquera, White, Hincapie, Eze, Gyokeres, Merino, Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly.
Referee: Andy Madley (Huddersfield)
BREAKING NEWS: this is a match Sky deem of sufficient import to merit a portentous monologue. Paul Bettany obliges.
Preamble
So much of life is luck: when we’re born, where we’re born and to whom we’re born; the the skills we have; who we meet and when we meet them.
Liverpool have lost one game this season. On the Premier League’s opening weekend, they needed a penalty in ninth minute of injury time for a point at Newcastle, recently benefitted from Brentford having two players sent off and, in midweek, Emmanuel Emegha missed a penalty that would’ve sent Chelsea past them in the League Cup.
Arsenal, meanwhile, spent chunks of last season struggling to score from open play, benefiting from avant-garde refereeing calls at set-pieces – one in particular when the title felt in the balance – and the absence of high-class challengers. In the annals of champions, they are not proximate to the greatest, yet Mikel Arteta’s men have every chance of doing what Arsène Wenger’s legends could not: retain a league title.
That, though, is only half of the story. Just as being blessed with intelligence and looks, helpful neurochemistry and secure home environment, is nothing whatsoever to do with those lucky enough to experience them, so finding the devotion, composure, discipline and focus to exploit that happy chance is within our gift. Who we are is genetics and circumstance, but also, who we are is a choice we’re able to make every single day.
While Andoni Iraola bedded in as Liverpool manager, his team persevered in the early stages, making the most of the opportunities which presented to establish standards and momentum, such that now, with the new manager’s methods taking effect, they’re well placed to impose the natural talent that suffuses their squad.
Arsenal, meanwhile, became champions thanks principally to monomaniacal resolve, separating themselves from the rest with their unity and organisation. Without that, it wouldn’t have mattered what was going on elsewhere; because of it, they’ve earned the freedom to express themselves in more expansive style.
Consequently, this afternoon’s match should be a belter, two teams making the most of what they give and what’s been given to them. Liverpool play the faster, more improvisational game, with Arsenal bringing the solidity and certainty they lack; Arsenal are certain they can take the title, while Liverpool will be starting to think it possible.
For either side, a win today would be a statement – to themselves as much as to everyone else. And ultimately, for all that goes on around us, what really defines what we make of life is how we perceive ourselves.
Kick-off: 4.30pm GMT
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