Arsenal v Liverpool Betting Tips [20 January 2022]

Arsenal put up a spirited fight despite being a man down in the first leg meeting with Liverpool in the League Cup semi finals and they will be eyeing another great performance when they host the return leg. On Thursday, the two sides face off, seeking a win to face Chelsea in the cup final and Arsenal will hope to get back to winning ways. They haven’t won in the last three matches, losing twice, and have failed to score in their last two games. The Gunners will go into this game without Granit Xhaka, who was sent off in the opening leg while they have a few injuries to key men. Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Cedric Soares are all likely to miss with injury, and Arsenal will be even shorter, with four players away at the AFCON 2021. With their available players, Arsenal are definitely going to employ a defensive strategy again, like they did at Anfield, with Alex Lacazette being the only man upfront. They have a fine run at home and will be looking at this to lift them.

Liverpool returned to winning ways in their weekend fixture, beating a hapless Brentford 3-0. They have been a bit shaky in the absence of Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Naby Keita who are all at the AFCON 2021. This will be a chance for them to show they can do it without the trio and Takumi Minamino will be expected to do better than in the first leg. They are unbeaten in the last four matches, with two wins and two draws, while they have two straight clean sheets heading into this game, one of them against Arsenal. Liverpool have however failed to score in two of their last five matches. Liverpool should be able to field a stronger team than Arsenal, as apart from the AFCON trio, they only have Divock Origi, Thiago and Harvey Elliot on the injury list.

Liverpool have a stronger squad than Arsenal going to this game but Arsenal have a good home run this season. The Gunners had a free weekend after the postponement of their game against Tottenham and should be well rested for this game. We expect them to line up defensively and will feel capable of handling a Liverpool side missing their key men. Liverpool haven’t won in their last three away matches and we expect the frustration to extend here. A draw at 90 minutes is our pick.