Arsenal and Liverpool will decide which team meets Chelsea in the Carabao Cup finals. This is the second leg of their semifinal matchup, coming seven days after a goalless draw at Anfield. Liverpool is still without its best players who are at the Africa Cup of Nations, and that is something that created a lot of trouble for the Reds. Meanwhile, Arsenal, too, has players at the same tournament, but their performances haven’t been influenced that negatively as Liverpool’s. Though, Mikel Arteta will have numerous other problems due to injuries.
Preview
Arsenal (+230) had to postpone its match against Tottenham due to a lack of players available to face the Spurs. The Gunners had several guys in the health and safety protocol, but also numerous of them were injured.
Arteta’s crew is without success in the New Year, event though things started well in that opening contest vs. City. After losing to them at Etihad, Arsenal was eliminated from the FA Cup in Nottingham against Forrest, and after that, played 0-0 in Liverpool.
Before losing to City on January 1st, Arsenal had 12 straight events without a defeat at home. During that stretch, the Gunners recorded 11 victories and only one draw.
Liverpool (+105) wants to reach its 13th EFL Cup finals. But apart from that, they are after the finals for one more reason: to get the trophy, because winning the EPL is pretty much a mission impossible this year.
Salah and Mane are in Cameroon, and Klopp has to mix things up in the front line, and we saw against Brentford that despite some struggles, the replacements delivered. Minamino is playing very well, and he could be a refreshment for the Reds’ attack in the second part of the season.
The defense is slowly waking up following a shaky period, and over the past two events, Liverpool didn’t allow a goal.
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Aubameyang is out due to heart problems; Elneny, Partey, and Pepe are at ACN. Granit Xhaka is suspended due to a red card. The list of questionable ones is very long – Chambers, Kolasinac, Odegaard, Saka, Smith Rowe, Soares, and Tomiyasu.
Liverpool’s problems are equal. Keira, Mane, and Salah are at ACN, Elliot, Origi, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Philips, and Thiago are all injured and won’t play for sure.
Head to Head
The Reds are better overall with 92 wins over Arsenal, who on the other side has 81 triumphs; 62 contests were without a winner.
Seven days ago we saw a dull game in Liverpool without any goals. Previously, the Reds thrashed Arsenal at Anfield in the Premier League, 4-0. The most recent event at Etihad saw Liverpool rolling over the rivals, 0-3. Of course, they had all the stars at their disposal.
Prediction
The stakes are high, and both coaches have huge problems with picking up the starting lineups. That is why we believe they won’t risk too much, but go with a more conservative game plan. Our pick here is under 2.5 goals, with the odds on that currently sitting at +110, which is great we need to add.
Pick: Under 2.5 goals +110
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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