Mikel Arteta who was quite possibly the best player on the pitch at the Emirates in the game in November. Jack Wilshere trained yesterday so is available for selection. If Jack is 100% fit and firing on all those proverbial cylinders then he will more than likely start in the number 8 position. Oxlade-Chamberlain came up with the answers from that position against Crystal Palace last weekend but playing at Anfield is a different kettle of fish. I would rather he started the Ox on the right, that way he can still play with the confidence that he has surely picked up this week.

Our 2-0 victory at the Emirates against Liverpool was arguably our best performance to date so far but that was back on the 2nd November 2013 when Arsenal were top and Liverpool second if I remember rightly. A lot of football has been played since then and today Arsenal enter a phase of fixtures which look somewhat difficult on paper.

Our record at Anfield has been pretty impressive in recent seasons and I guess it is this reason which leaves me feeling a little uncomfortable about this game, a strange way of looking at things granted but there it is. My insecurities laid bare for all to see.

Did you know that Suarez and Sturridge have only been stopped from scoring once while playing as a pair this season? Yup that was against us but yeah I suppose you have heard that one over the last couple of days. Did you also know that Luis Suarez has failed to score against one of the big teams this season? you knew that also and why am I writing this in a preview before the game has started? Firstly I don’t believe in jinxing and secondly I can’t shake off the fact that law of averages say that he will get on the score sheet today. But that said, if you believe in jinxing then I have jinxed him scoring anyway. Double jinx and all that.  This is assuming that others who believe in jinxing are not spoiling it for the rest of us. Jinxing seems very complex.

Anyway, I am not all full of fear and worry. Liverpool have a few injuries that leave them a tad suspect in certain areas. Lucas will be a big miss in the middle of the pitch, especially with Özil, Cazorla and Arteta looking to get on the ball. Johnson, Agger, Sakho and José Enrique are other absentees.

So what of us? I think you’d agree that the biggest question will be who sits alongside Mikel Arteta who was quite possibly the best player on the pitch at the Emirates in the game in November. Jack Wilshere trained yesterday so is available for selection. If Jack is 100% fit and firing on all those proverbial cylinders then he will more than likely start in the number 8 position. Oxlade-Chamberlain came up with the answers from that position against Crystal Palace last weekend but playing at Anfield is a different kettle of fish. I would rather he started the Ox on the right, that way he can still play with the confidence that he has surely picked up this week.

I don’t see Podolski starting this one. In fact I don’t see Lukas starting any difficult away matches where our attacking players will be expected to a) continuously track back and b) where the position expects someone to use the ball well and rotate with the rest of our attacking players. Sunderland at home is more a Podolski game in my eyes. Hey, don’t shoot me down. Just look at Arsene’s use of him since half way through the season last season. He’s spent most of his time on the bench, listening to Frimpong chatting-bout dench.

I love Rosicky, really do but I don’t see Arsène starting him alongside Arteta. You can count on one hand the amount of times he has started in the box to box role under Arsène. He sees Tomas as more of an attacking player and rarely does Arsène go against the balance of the team. That said, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Rosicky play one of the wide positions to give us even greater strength in possession. We could always turn to the Ox if we needed to later on.

If Jack is fit and ready for action, I’d go..

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up:

I reckon we’ll see Liverpool flying out of the traps and try and play a little how Southampton did recently. I wouldn’t be surprised if the game largely depends on how we cope with the opening 25 minutes or so because we have the technique to wrestle back control of the game. Suarez vs Koscielny is a different proposition to at the Ems. We will have to be compact when we don’t have the ball. I would recall Kieran Gibbs for Monreal, Liverpool will have a lot of pace on the right with Sterling and Gibbs is clearly the quicker of the two left backs.

Another win at Anfield could set this team up for a difficult set of fixtures but we are going to have to work to get anything.

Fingers crossed the boys find yet another way to win. I will post up the confirmed line up later today.

COYG.