Arsenal vs Liverpool: Lucas Perez Still Won't Crack The Shell

Arsenal will need to have all hands on deck against a frustrated Liverpool, but chances are, that won’t involve any changes, as Lucas Perez will take a seat at the onset.

Arsenal’s upcoming match-up against Liverpool has the feel of one of those games where Arsene Wenger will pull back into his comfort shell and do the same thing that he has done so many other times. By this, I mean expect the same tactics with the same people enacting those tactics.

Wenger is not afraid to make changes. He is afraid to make big changes, but even for the small changes, he tends to shy away in matches against higher-table opponents.

Take for instance, that first week where Mesut Ozil disappeared. After an infuriating loss to Everton, Wenger made just one change against Manchester City. Despite seeing his team utterly flustered, he went into his shell and hoped things would change.

Against West Brom the following week, he made big changes. He tried something new.

Another example of Wenger retreating into his shell came against Chelsea. After losing to Watford, he reverted his entire team back to it’s original form. He didn’t try anything new, he changed all of his changes back.

This is just my roundabout way of saying that Wenger is not one for trying new things in big matches. So with Liverpool coming up, I am not getting my hopes up that he will give Danny Welbeck his first start of the season. The Englishman is being heralded as being “fitter and stronger than ever before” but he is still be used sparingly.

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Lucas is in the same boat. No matter the disaster with the team or the praise from team mates and spectators, he will not crack the safety shell that Wenger figures to revert into against Liverpool.

You can expect to see Alex Iwobi back out there. You can expect to see Francis Coquelin. I would like to think that you can expect to see the Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (that’s a good thing) but I’m actually not entirely sure. Wenger’s idea of “needed change” after such a disappointing string of fixtures may be to send Theo Walcott back out there.

Surely that’ll work.

This little shell of farcical security doesn’t work and it needs to be incinerated. If anything, it makes the Gunners more susceptible to continued let-downs and frustrations while more capable solutions are sitting on the bench.

Next: Arsenal's Predicted XI To Face Liverpool

But hey, let’s be optimistic. This “same old” Arsenal has surprised us with stellar performances in the past, so maybe Liverpool can be another case. And I love being proven wrong in situations like this, so let’s all celebrate if we see

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Arsenal vs Liverpool: Lucas Perez Still Won’t Crack The Shell

By Josh Sippie | Mar 4, 2017

Arsenal will need to have all hands on deck against a frustrated Liverpool, but chances are, that won’t involve any changes, as Lucas Perez will take a seat at the onset.

More from Pain in the Arsenal