Arsenal vs Liverpool Carabao Cup preview: How to watch, lineups, postponement, & prediction

Arsenal are one game away from another Wembley showpiece as they host Liverpool at the Emirates on Thursday for the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie. Here is the match preview.

What a rollercoaster week it has been since the last time these two sides met. Arsenal becoming the most hated club in England by simply meeting Premier League thresholds for postponement being the standout event.

Unable to field 13 outfield players and one goalkeeper, the rules set in place by the league to be able to call for legitimate postponement, and those followed by all the other clubs who’ve had games pushed back, meant Arsenal’s request to move Sunday’s North London Derby was accepted.

It’s a ridiculous rule that shouldn’t include absences due to anything other than Covid cases, but it is what it is, and now every neutral in the country will be anything but and pining for Liverpool to win this tie.

Arsenal vs Liverpool preview: Carabao Cup semi-final second leg with Arteta’s side dealing with Covid and injury absences for Thursday’s huge clash

Having battled for a heroic 0-0 draw at Anfield despite Granit Xhaka’s red card reducing Arsenal to ten men for over 70 minutes, this fixture is a effectively a one-off game where the winner takes all.

The away goals rule does not apply in the Carabao Cup so if it is a score draw then the game will go to extra-time before penalties. Were it not for Arsenal being so heavily depleted across the squad, they might be favourites to win this.

That valiant away showing against a Reds side without their two main men up front – Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane – was grounds for encouragement, and having had some additional time off to rest, recover, and hopefully welcome players back, the Gunners’ fine home form and the raucous atmosphere will not make this easy for the visitors.

A sort of siege mentality is forming off the back of the Spurs postponement, and there is no doubting among the players that they really want this. It was noticeable at Anfield and the draw will only have fired them up more. That, coupled with a fanbase feeling likewise – the scramble for tickets is well and truly on – means why can’t Arsenal book a Wembley showing against Chelsea?

Their lack of something called a midfield might not help. Should be a cracking game nonetheless…. if Arsenal can field a side.

How to Watch on TV

When Is Kick Off? Thursday 20 January
What Time Is Kick Off? 19:45 (GMT)
Where Is it Played? Emirates Stadium
TV Channel/Live Stream? Sky Sports Main Event (UK) fuboTV (USA)
Referee? Michael Oliver

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Arsenal Team News vs Liverpool – Who Does Arteta Have Available?

At present, we don’t know.

Arteta will be speaking to the press shortly after lunchtime on Wednesday and until then it is a waiting game to find out who will be back.

In terms of who there are concerns over, the draw at Liverpool saw a number of players suffer knocks, those which ruled them out of the North London Derby. Calum Chambers, Cedric Soares and Kieran Tierney both had issues either during or post-game, but with Arsenal keeping quiet since the postponement there is little in the way of updates.

An unknown second Covid case was revealed shortly before the Spurs game, one that will rule whoever it is out of Thursday. Martin Odegaard, however, will have completed his five days of isolation and if he’s produced two negative tests he will fortunately be available for selection.

Just like everyone else there is no word on Emile Smith Rowe or Takehiro Tomiyasu, with their respective injuries hoped to have subsidised in time for them to be involved.

One person 100% certain to be out is Granit Xhaka, whose two-game suspension for a red card will start against Liverpool and end, hopefully, against Burnley in the Premier League – should that game go ahead.

Liverpool are in perfectly fine shape barring the trio who are away at AFCON, with the only apparent injury concern from their 3-0 win over Brentford being an ankle problem picked up by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

So, nothing out of the ordinary there.

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Arsenal Predicted Lineup to Face Liverpool – Benjamin White in Midfield?

Arsenal: Ramsdale; Chambers, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; White, Sambi, Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Lacazette

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Jones; Minamino, Firmino, Jota

Arsenal vs Liverpool Score Prediction

Home advantage, right?

If Arsenal were injury and Covid free then you’d back them to win this. The confidence gained from that unified and battling performance at Anfield will put them in great stead and taking both sides’ AFCON involvements out of the equation, on home soil this is one you’d back Arsenal to win.

They go into every ‘big’ game ready to play their football. It’s not as refined, as drilled or as second nature to them as Liverpool’s style is, but it offers genuine threat and it troubled the best team in the world earlier in the month prior to, of course, another red card.

It’s going to be an immense atmosphere at the Emirates with everything that has been going on since the previous tie coupled with the obvious point of this being one game away from a Wembley showpiece.

But the absences are worrying.

Whatever happens in terms of players coming back, there is still only one central midfielder to select from. Arsenal dug so deep they were halfway to New Zealand last time out with a midfield trio of Saka, Sambi and Martinelli, and as heroic as they did in that game, they can’t do so again since they won’t be operating in the deepest of low blocks.

Liverpool were off sorts in attacking sense in the first leg as they don’t have the same fluency without their African duo, but as also seen in that game, they pose such a threat in transition. Given Arsenal will be far more expansive than they were with ten men, that is where the danger is.

Especially with the thin squad Arsenal have.

Score Prediction: Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool (AET)