{"id":10242,"date":"2024-10-26T19:59:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-26T18:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=10242"},"modified":"2024-10-28T05:24:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T05:24:09","slug":"time-to-stand-up-and-be-counted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=10242","title":{"rendered":"Time to stand up and be counted"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1626446\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:65.65657% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1626446?et=yhfuLpcSRqdl1hrXXy8Y4A&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=jXndOiRaCJpRFZ_dTY6qHBbMrI52F68W69A-fH50xOU=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"390\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Arsenal vs Liverpool. One of the great fixtures on the English football calendar. There have been cup finals, title deciders and everything in between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sunday\u2019s encounter should be no different as both sides hunt down the three points to keep the pressure on our common enemy. Liverpool have enjoyed a near-perfect start to life under Arne Slot, winning every game in all competitions bar a shock home defeat to Nottingham Forest in September. They truly are an elite side and any expectation that Liverpool may struggle to adapt to life without Klopp appear to have been quashed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But back to those great historical Arsenal\/Liverpool clashes of the past. In 1964 history was made as Arsenal and Liverpool played out the very first BBC MOTD broadcasted game in which we lost 3-2. In 1971 we met at Wembley in the FA cup final this time triumphing 2-1 in what proved to be one half of Arsenal\u2019s first ever league and cup double. Charlie George\u2019s long-range winner is still played on the big screens at the Emirates before every game over half a century later. if you\u2019ve seen the goal, you can understand why as it truly is one of the all-time great FA Cup Final goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But perhaps the most famous meeting between the sides came 18 years later in 1989 as Arsenal travelled to Anfield for the final game of the season. We all know the story of course but let\u2019s set the scene once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to the Hillsborough disaster, we didn\u2019t travel to Anfield until 26<sup>th<\/sup> May, after everyone else\u2019s season had finished so it truly was the final day. The nation was watching. Arsenal knew they had to win by two clear goals to take the title from Liverpool who were of course the dominant side of that era. They seldom lost at Anfield let alone by two goals. It\u2019s fair to say no one really gave Arsenal a prayer. But George Graham simply told his side to keep it tight in the first half. If it gets to half time 0-0 that\u2019s ok. We can nick a goal early in the second half and continue to keep it tight before throwing the kitchen sink at it late on. And that\u2019s exactly what transpired. We got to half time at 0-0. It was cagey affair with both sides focused on not making a mistake. Alan Smith got a goal early in the second half. Then came the most incredible climax to a league season in English football history. Lee Dixon\u2019s ball found Alan Smith. Michael Thomas was making a late run into the box from midfield. Could Smith find the right ball? He could just about, as Thomas got the first touch which flicked off the defender back to Thomas who now had a clear sight of goal. It seemed to take Thomas an age to get the ball out of his feet but when he eventually did, he flicked the ball over Grobbelar and into the back of the net cue bedlam in the away end and in pubs and living rooms across North London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of tomorrow\u2019s game, we have been struck with a boatload of injury problems. Saka and Timber are major doubts, and Calafiori got a knock against Shakhtar in the week. \u00d8degaard obviously remains a long-term absentee. Saliba is suspended following his ludicrous red card in the defeat to Bournemouth last weekend. In terms of team selection, I\u2019d expect White to start at right back with Kiwior accompanying Gabriel at the back with Zinckenko at left back. Having the Ukrainian up against Salah is far from ideal but the only alternative is playing Myles Lewis Skelly there which I just can\u2019t see Arteta doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In midfield I think it will be Rice and Partey with Trossard in the ten. I wouldn\u2019t mind seeing Merino for Partey but I expect Arteta to keep him on the bench as he looks to get up to speed with the pace and intensity of the English game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the absence of Saka, it\u2019s a toss up between Jesus and Sterling on the right. I think Arteta will prefer a natural winger for a game of this magnitude, so I think we\u2019ll see Sterling start again. Martinelli, who always plays well against Liverpool, will start on the left with Havertz down the middle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In theory we are slight favourites but given a loss will put us seven points behind Liverpool and six behind City there is real pressure on us to win here. I don\u2019t think the title can ever be over in October but given our next two games see us go to Newcastle and then Chelsea, anything but three points will rack up the pressure on Arteta and the players significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re going to the game bring your dinner but if you\u2019re not you may want to hide behind the sofa for this one. I\u2019m going for a morale boosting 2-1 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COYG!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Arsenal vs Liverpool. One of the great fixtures on the English football calendar. There have been cup finals, title deciders and everything in between. Sunday\u2019s encounter should be no different as both sides hunt down the three points to keep the pressure on our common enemy. Liverpool have enjoyed a near-perfect [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10242"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10247,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10242\/revisions\/10247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}