1. Stopping/Handling Liverpool's Crosses
A consistent quality of a Brendan Rogers coached team is strong wing play. He has spent most of the transfer window looking for the players to fill this wide role. The game against Manchester City saw the debut of young Raheem Sterling on the left, and he had an outstanding game. Fabio Borini (a new Rogers signing) played on the right, and Luis Suárez started in the center. Liverpool will try to get the ball to their wingers early and allow them to go one-on-one to get dangerous crosses in the box, and they will work the ball through the midfield, switching the point of attack quickly to try and release the wingers in advanced positions, again to deliver dangerous crosses in the box. Suárez will be asked to get on the end of those crosses, but he will not be alone. One of the changes that Rogers has intercepted on his arrival to Liverpool is to push Steven Gerrard further up the pitch to allow him to arrive in the box for the balls swung in from the wide positions and to receive the angled balls, brought back to the top of the box for him. Arsenal's fullbacks and outside midfielders must be aware of these opportunities and be ready to close the wide players down, to block crosses, and to double team the wingers once they get into advanced positions. In the center of the defense, the Arsenal center backs have to be resolute in attacking the balls swung in behind them from the wings. It will be interesting to see which Arsenal goalkeeper gets the nod in goal for this game because it will be a day of crosses. In the past, Arsenal goalkeepers and central defenders have been suspect in these situations, but they have handled themselves well in both the Sunderland and Stoke games. I expect them to do well on Sunday.