[fasteddy]

I agree with WAS on this one, and also el Guapo....

watching Liverpool against Wigan I never felt confident that they were in control ay any point. Gerrard didn't look his usual fiery self, with quite a few misplaced passes and often appearing to be pissed off at some of his colleagues play. He is very much the 'key' to their success when he plays , so if not on his game they do suffer a little.
He may get fired up for Arsenal , who knows, but in general I don't rate Liverpool as being in top form at the moment.
Cisse is not a player I like, even if he does have pace , as it's not used effectively enough and he strikes me as a selfish twat. Riise and Kewell are definitely off the boil as well, plus you add in someone like Hamann and you can see where Arsenal could look to getting an advantage with younger, fresher legs and attitude.

Arsenal will be missing Bergkamp and Reyes as well for this , leaving Wegner with a real mish mash to select from. Youthful, light weight , lanky Bambi's in the shape of Adebayour and Diaby!
Pires and Freddie have to play from the start...no questions.The defence will struggle against the experience of either Morientes or Fowler...or both..hopefully. while the midfield trio of Fabregas, Larsson, Silva lacks real physical threat , often showing a lack of maturity in the battle of the 'minds'.

Neither of these sides are in top form, so the odds should reflect that a bit more , but with Arsenal's away record so poor , it seems they bookies have gone too far in the Reds' favour.

Anfield is a different ballgame for Liverpool and I expect them to raise their standars, but they will have a tough time on their hands ...tougher than Wigan or Birmingham.
It's should be remembered that since the turn of the year Liverpool have played 9 times: 3 Home 6 Away...going 4-2-3 and 2 of the defeats were away to Manyoo and Chelsea...but they haven't impressed in goalscoring lately, so there it's not like they are THAT big a favourite over a side that still has Henry/Pires/Freddie.

So what have we got?...well for me it will all be about who starts up front for Liverpool. If it's Morientes/Fowler then I see them getting a result early on. These two may not have the pace , but they are brilliant at getting into position for good deliveries, which Liverpool will have no problem doing. Both are crafty, intelligent and have that rare 'touch' when it comes to getting the goals.
If Cisse + 1 then I don't think it will be so easy as he hasn't scored in 8 games, and he just isn't a player that I feel compliments any of the other strikers style.

As for Arsenal: Adebayour is still adjusting to life in EPL, his style's not best suited as he likes to dig the ball out from under his feet rather than get into a more flowing one touch pass mode. He moves well enough , but just too light and frail to stay on the ball when pressed..he gets rid of it sharpish when closed down...that's for sure!
If the defence stands firm and doesn't panic...Liverpool will again find the goals hard to come by.

I'll wait for the team news and make a decision then, but I just feel that Arsenal's price is too big overall. Got to be worth a small punt.