Next Sunday, 21st of December 2014, an unbelievably unstable Liverpool will entertain an also inconsistent Arsenal at the emblematic Anfield Road for round 17 of the English Premier League, on a match of paramount importance for both teams who have been experiencing some difficult times so far this season and need to win in order to get closer to the top five places of the table, which grant European football next year.

This “new” Liverpool is miles away from the team that displayed true moments of pure class over the last campaign and it is also hard to believe how a team can change so much from one season to the other. Last weekend, the Reds conceded their seventh defeat of the season after their visit to Old Trafford, on a match where the visiting team created far more goal chances than their rivals but saw their intents crash into an utterly inspired David de Gea.

After their premature elimination of the UEFA Champions League, a defeat against their old time rivals of Manchester United has definitely caused some damage in the team’s already shaky motivation levels. Nevertheless, Liverpool managed to bounce back and booked their place on the Capital One Cup semi-finals after defeating Bournemouth at Dean Court in the middle of the week. Such win could be a motivation boost for the team who are clearly underachieving so far this season.

For next weekend’s difficult clash against the Gunners, Brendan Rodgers will not be able to rely on Sturridge, Flanagan, Johnson and Suso, who are currently sidelined due to injury, and on Balotelli, who is suspended.

As for Arsenal, the Gunners are also not having a season to remember but the eight goals they scored in their last two official matches (four against Galatasaray and another four against Newcastle) might indicate that they have finally found their path to success.

Last weekend, Arsene Wenger’s boys crushed an unrecognizable Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium and reached Southampton on the EPL table.

For their difficult visit to Anfield Road, the French manager will not be able to count on the services of several important players such Ramsey, Koscielny, Arteta, Wilshere and Ozil, all sidelined because of injury.

Although Liverpool have been far from brilliant so far this season, they enjoy from a slight favouritism for the upcoming clash against Arsenal, but in a match between such powerhouses the outcome is always unpredictable.

Liverpool

Stats: W-2 L-1 D-2

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Arsenal

Stats: W-4 L-1 D-0

Recent Form - WWLWW

Possible Line-ups

Liverpool (4-2-3-1) – Jones - Manquillo - Skrtel - Lovren - Johnson - Leiva - Henderson - Markovic - Gerrard - Sterling - Lambert

Arsenal (4-2-3-1) – Szczesny - Chambers - Mertesacker - Debuchy - Gibbs - Flamini - Cazorla Oxlade Chamberlain - Sánchez - Welbeck - Giroud

Prediction

Liverpool 2 Arsenal 1