Preview and Prediction
The English football is about to raise the curtain soon this weekend by The Community Shield match. It marks the beginning of the Premier League 2020/2021 season. It is the meeting between Liverpool as the league champion and Arsenal as the FA Cup winner. The Reds have not been very active in the summer transfer window while Arsenal has already signed some new names. In fact, The Gunners have been boosted by new optimism under Mikel Arteta after surprisingly winning FA Cup last season. It is a perfect chance to test their new signings on a competitive game before the real battle begins.
The teams’ latest update
The Gunners have offloaded two names from their squad, Henrikh Mikhitariyan to Roma and Konstantinos Mavropanos on loan to VFB Stuttgart. Their current forward, Alexander Lacazette plus the right wing back Ainsley Maitland-Niles have been the target of Juventus and Wolverhampton. At the same time, they made three important signings, Willian, Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari from Chelsea, Southampton and Flamengo.
Meanwhile, The Reds released their senior figures such as Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne and made one signing only so far, Konstantinos Tsimikas from Olympiakos. Jurgen Klopp seems to be focusing on optimising the ones who return from their loan such as Marco Grujic, Ovo Ejaria, Ben Woodburn and Harry Wilson.
Possible tactic
Mikel Arteta might be employing his favourite 3-4-3 again. Yet, Granit Xhaka’s partner in the midfield, Dani Ceballos, is unavailable yet as he is still in progress of negotiating his move to London. Thus, Lucas Torreira or Mohammed Elneny might be opted instead. At the front, Pierre Aubameyang will be accompanied by Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka or Reiss Nelson. On the injury table, Gabriel Martinelli, Shkodran Mustafi, Callum Chambers and Pablo Mari are still ruled out.
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp has always been in favour of 4-3-3. Mo Salah, Firmino and Sadio Mane have been the top frontmen these past two seasons. Yet, Xerdan Shaqiri might be opted to rest one of them on the bench. Their starting IX might not be complete yet as Virgil Van Dijk is possibly sidelined along with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Players to watch
Pierre Aubameyang is the key man upfront as Lacazette has been less reliable on scoring. Some other notable names to watch are surely Willian, the right wing back, Cedric Soares and the goalie whose form lately in EPL was impressive, Emiliano Martinez.
In Liverpool, Sadio Mane has been the most deadly forward in the penalty box alongside Mo Salah. Some other key figures on the team are their Brasilian connection, Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Firmino.
Arsenal vs Liverpool Prediction
This match might not be expected to be intense yet. Arteta’s men might be in need of time to adapt the loss of Dani Ceballos in the midfield, plus the arrival of Willian in their tactics, while Firmino and Co are likely to be in control of the game. However, it is still considered as the competitive friendly game. The Reds will eventually seal a narrow win here.
Betting odds
According to the punters, Liverpool is backed to win higher at 1.67 whereas David Luiz and Co are only projected to win at 4.75. The odds for the draw result are at 4.10.
