Arsenal Vs Liverpool | Champions League 02/04/08

[SE13]

UEFA Champions League

Quarter Final First Leg

ARSENAL Vs Liverpool



Wednesday 2nd April 2008

7:45pm

Live on SkySports 2

Ashburton Grove

[arseman]

Conquerors of the two Milan clubs in the last round, Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC will meet for the first time in European competition – and the 200th time overall – when they contest the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final in north London.

• Arsenal's superior Premier League position and their recent record against the Anfield club may make them appear marginal favourites but Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez eliminated the Gunners from the UEFA Champions League with Valencia CF and his success in all-English contests against Chelsea FC, not to mention his club's history in the competition, should ensure no shortage of self-belief on the visitors' part.

• This is Arsenal's fifth quarter-final appearance in Europe's élite club competition and their record to date is one win and three defeats. Liverpool, by comparison, are appearing at this stage for the 12th time and have a record of eight wins and three defeats.

• Arsenal advanced to the quarter-final by deposing holders AC Milan in the first knockout round. Following a goalless draw in London, Arsène Wenger's team became the first English club to beat Milan at San Siro when goals from Cesc Fabregas (84) and Emmanuel Adebayor (90+2) secured a 2-0 triumph in the return.

• They had previously finished second in Group H behind Sevilla FC, ending the group stage with a record of W4 D1 L1.

• Liverpool's progression through the group stage was less comfortable – they won their final three matches to secure second spot in Group A behind FC Porto and a record of W3 D1 L2.

• Yet they were impressive 3-0 aggregate winners against Italian champions FC Internazionale Milano in the first knockout round, winning 2-0 at Anfield through Dirk Kuyt (85) and Steven Gerrard (90), before a Fernando Torres strike (64) decided the return in Milan.

• Arsenal have won their last four home games against Liverpool and are unbeaten in eight fixtures against their opponents on home soil.

• The last time Liverpool prevailed at Arsenal was 13 February 2000, Titi Camara's 18th-minute goal securing a 1-0 Premier League win.

• Arsenal may also gain confidence from the fact they eliminated Liverpool from both English cup competitions last season. The London club beat then FA Cup holders Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield in a third-round tie on 6 January 2007, Tomáš Rosický (37, 45) and Thierry Henry (84) scoring for the visitors while Kuyt (71) got Liverpool's goal.

• Arsenal returned to Anfield three days later and beat Liverpool 6-3 in a League Cup quarter-final match. It was the first time the Reds had conceded six goals at home since a 6-0 reverse against Sunderland AFC in April 1930.

• For Arsenal this is only the second time they have faced English opposition in Europe and they will not want reminding of their quarter-final defeat by London rivals Chelsea FC in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League season. Arsenal finished that campaign unbeaten in the Premier League but they went down 3-2 on aggregate to Chelsea, losing the second leg 2-1 at home after a 1-1 away draw. That defeat was Arsenal's last at home in the UEFA Champions League – of the subsequent 18 games, excluding qualifiers, they have won 12 and drawn six.

• Liverpool, by contrast, have fared well in previous all-English ties. Although beaten 2-0 on aggregate by Nottingham Forest FC in the first round of the 1978/79 European Champion Clubs' Cup, they recorded victories in their three other knockout contests.

• In 1972/73 the Merseyside club got past Tottenham Hotspur FC on away goals in the UEFA Cup semi-finals following a 2-2 aggregate draw. More recently, they beat Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2004/05 – winning the second leg 1-0 at Anfield following a 0-0 first-leg draw – and then repeated the feat last season when Daniel Agger's goal cancelled out a 1-0 first-leg loss in London and the Reds proceeded to win 4-1 on penalties.

• Arsenal may be above Liverpool in the Premier League standings but domestic form has counted for nothing in recent all-English duels. When Chelsea beat Arsenal in 2004 and Liverpool bettered Chelsea in 2005 and 2007, it was the losing side that finished higher in the Premier League.

• Benítez got the better of Arsenal in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League second group stage when in charge of Valencia. The teams drew 0-0 at Highbury in December 2002 and met again in their final group match at Mestalla in March 2003, when a 2-1 Valencia victory secured first place in the section for the Spanish side – and relegated Arsenal to third.

• The clubs have met 199 times previously, with Arsenal winning 70 and Liverpool 80, with 49 drawn.

• In 94 home games against Liverpool, Arsenal have recorded 41 wins, 29 draws and 24 defeats.

• Arsenal's biggest home win in this fixture was an 8-1 triumph in the English top flight in 1934/35. Liverpool's biggest victory was 5-0, on their first visit to Arsenal in the old second division in 1893/94.

• Liverpool and Arsenal last met in a two-leg tie in the English League Cup semi-final in February 1978. Liverpool won the first leg at Anfield 2-1 and held out for a goalless draw in north London in the return.

• The teams will face each other three times in the space of seven days. After the first leg on 2 April, they will reconvene at the Arsenal Stadium for a Premier League match on 5 April before the second leg of their quarter-final on 8 April.

• If that seems excessive, their counterparts in the 1979/80 season played each other five times in 20 days. After drawing their FA Cup semi-final 0-0 on 12 April, they drew two subsequent replays – 1-1 on both 16 and 28 April – before Arsenal finally prevailed in the third, winning 1-0 through a Brian Talbot goal on 1 May. In the middle of all that the teams also met in the league, drawing 1-1 at Anfield on 19 April.

• Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini was part of the Olympique de Marseille team defeated 2-0 by Benítez's Valencia in the UEFA Cup final in May 2004.

• Liverpool's Ryan Babel featured for former club AFC Ajax in their home defeat (1-2) and away draw (0-0) with Arsenal in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Arsenal midfielder Fabregas is a colleague of Liverpool trio Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina, Álvaro Arbeloa and Torres in the Spain national squad.

• The tie also pits Arsenal forward Robin van Persie against his Dutch international team-mates Babel and Kuyt. Van Persie and Kuyt have also played together at club level, during the 2003/04 season at Feyenoord.

• Arsenal pair Jens Lehmann and Rosický finished on the losing side against Liverpool with BV Borussia Dortmund in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League first group stage. Rosicky was denied a winning goal by the woodwork in a 0-0 home draw with the Merseyside club in September 2001, but a 2-0 defeat at Anfield the following month eliminated Dortmund and confirmed Liverpool as group winners.

©uefa.com 1998-2008.

[rodney]

In 19 and a half hours I'll be sitting in the Emirates about to see us kill Liverpool (no good images, but basically woop)

I think this will be a tough game tomorrow. I expect Liverpool to come and be cautious and attempt to stifle our attacking play and hit us on the counter. Liverpool will want an away goal and it is vitally important for us to keep a clean sheet. Which is why it has 0-0 written all over it in my opinion. I'd expect us to line up like this:

Almunia

Eboue Toure Gallas Clichy

Hleb Flamini Cesc Diaby

Robin Ade

Got a feeling Eboue will play at right back after Kolo's mistake on Saturday. Big Phil being the likely candidate to lose his place. With Diaby about to serve a three match suspension in the league I'd imagine he will being starting and Theo on Saturday.

The main threat is obviously from Gerrard and Torres. We need Flamini and Gallas to have big games if we're going to keep Liverpool quiet. I don't think 0-0 would be a bad result, as I am confident we can go to Anfield and win. If we were to win 1-0 I'd be over the moon.

[singaporegooner]

Awesome statistics and history...
Alot will be hinging on how our strikers will convert the chances which come our way...
i doubt it'll be a open game with chances aplenty at either end...
Hate to say it but Pool's striker does seem to be a tad bit more effective at the moment as compared to ours.

[arseman]

The press kit on uefa.com is quite an interesting read...

Match facts

ARSENAL

UEFA milestones
• None

2007/08 UEFA Champions League statistics

• No Arsenal player has featured in all ten UEFA Champions League games this season, including qualifying. Indeed, none has played in all eight matches in the competition proper with Bacary Sagna and Emmanuel Eboué making the most appearances with seven each.

• Emmanuel Adebayor has been flagged offside on 19 occasions, more than any other player in this season's UEFA Champions League.

• Arsenal have been caught offside 29 times to date, with Chelsea FC the joint highest total of the eight remaining teams.

Disciplinary information
• Denilson, Gaël Clichy, Eboué, Aleksandr Hleb and Adebayor are within one yellow card of a suspension.

Latest domestic information
• Saturday 29 March: Bolton Wanderers FC 2-3 Arsenal FC
(Matthew Taylor 14, 43; William Gallas 62, Robin van Persie 68 pen, Jlloyd Samuel og 90)
Arsenal mounted a sterling comeback at the Bolton Stadium after falling 2-0 down to Taylor's first-half double and losing Abou Diaby to a 31st-minute red card for a foul on Gretar Steinsson. Captain Gallas started the recovery from Cesc Fabregas' left-wing corner just past the hour and Van Persie levelled from the penalty spot six minutes later
after Gary Cahill had brought down Hleb. It still looked as if the visitors would have to settle for a point, but in added time Fabregas' shot took two deflections with Bolton defender Samuel getting the final touch to give Arsenal a memorable win.

• "It's an incredible win, it was a real mental test today," said Arsène Wenger. "It looked as if everything was going against us; 2-0 down at half-time and down to ten men when you know 2-2 is not good enough demanded a lot from us, but I'm very proud of the team because they gave absolutely everything. We fought until the last second of the
game and we got a great win today. [At 2-0] we wanted to dig deep and give everything to come back; you have to go for it and we did that in a marvellous way. I've said many times this team is mentally very strong. We'll fight until the last minute of this championship and these players will do it."

• The Arsenal manager dropped Adebayor to the bench with Nicklas Bendtner starting up front, while Diaby and Philippe Senderos – making his 100th start for the club – came in for Eboué and the injured Sagna.

• Kolo Touré made his 250th start for Arsenal at Bolton.

• Arsenal have now picked up 20 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other side.

• The win was Arsenal's first in six Premier League matches. Had they failed to win at Bolton, it would have been the north London club's longest run without a league victory since Wenger took over in October 1996.

• Arsenal had won only one of their previous eight games – the second leg against Milan. Since defeating Blackburn Rovers FC 2-0 on 11 February, they bowed out of the FA Cup with a 4-0 reverse at Manchester United FC and drew their next four Premier League matches before suffering only their second league defeat of the season, going down
2-1 at Chelsea FC on 23 March. The defeat at Stamford Bridge ended a 14-match unbeaten league run, left Arsenal six points behind leaders United and allowed Chelsea to climb above their London rivals into second position.

• Only Clichy has featured in all 32 Premier League matches so far this season.

• Twenty-four of Arsenal's 62 league goals to date have come in the final 15 minutes of matches.

• Arsenal have also conceded just twice in the last 15 minutes of the first half in the league this season.

Injury news
• Eduardo da Silva – out since 23 February (broken leg)
• Tomáš Rosický – out since 1 February (hamstring)
• Kolo Touré – out 20 February to 9 March (calf)
• Theo Walcott – out 6-15 March (thigh)
• Abou Diaby – out 4-23 March (calf)
• Robin van Persie – out 11 January to 9 March (thigh)
• Johan Djourou – out since 11 January (groin)
• Alexandre Song – out since 10 February (knee)
• Bacary Sagna – out since 23 February (ankle)
• Eduardo is expected to be out of action for at least nine months after breaking his leg against Birmingham City FC on 23 February. The injury also rules the Croatian international striker out of UEFA EURO 2008™.
• Sagna will miss both legs against Liverpool after twisting his ankle against Chelsea on 23 March, an injury that is expected to keep him on the sidelines for three weeks.

International news
• On 26 March, Bendtner scored Denmark's goal in a 1-1 friendly draw against the Czech Republic while Jens Lehmann and Senderos were in direct opposition as the former's Germany won 4-0 against Switzerland. There were 1-0 triumphs for Spain's Fabregas and Gallas of France as Italy and England respectively were defeated, while Gilberto played 90 minutes in Brazil's victory against Sweden at the Arsenal Stadium by the same scoreline. Van Persie also played the full game as the Netherlands came from three goals down to win 4-3 against Austria in Vienna.
• Hleb played all of Belarus' 2-2 home draw with Turkey, and Touré and Eboué were in the Ivory Coast squad that lost 2-0 against Tunisia.
Miscellaneous
• On 27 March, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the Arsenal Stadium, where they met Wenger and were greeted by members of the club's youth team.


LIVERPOOL
UEFA milestones
• Sami Hyypiä and Steven Gerrard both made their 50th UEFA Champions League appearances in the second leg against Inter.
• Jamie Carragher played in his 100th UEFA club competition match in the same game.
2007/08 UEFA Champions League statistics
• Pepe Reina and Hyypiä have featured in all ten UEFA Champions League games this season, including qualifying, while Carragher and Gerrard have played all eight games in the competition proper. Reina and Carragher have played every minute of the competition proper to date.
• Liverpool scored 21 goals in their first eight games, the most of the eight sides in the quarter-finals.

Disciplinary information
• Carragher, Gerrard and Fábio Aurélio will incur a suspension with their next yellow cards.
Latest domestic information
• Sunday 30 March: Liverpool FC 1-0 Everton FC (Fernando Torres 7)
Liverpool consolidated fourth place in the Premier League as Torres' early goal at Anfield proved enough to settle the 207th Merseyside derby. The Spanish international pounced after Everton had failed to clear a seventh-minute corner, slotting his 28th goal of the season in all competitions beyond Tim Howard. The win leaves Liverpool five points ahead
of fifth-placed Everton in the race for England's final place in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds. Steven Finnan was on the bench after a groin injury, while Lucas Leiva replaced the suspended Javier Mascherano.
• "We're in a good position but there are difficult games to come so we need to keep winning," said Rafael Benítez.
"When you're five points above the other team, it's always a lot easier. The understanding between Steven Gerrard and Torres is good and we need to use these two key players. Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt are also playing well going forward so this formation has been good for the team."
• Torres' goal was Liverpool's 100th in all competitions this season.
• Reina has kept 15 clean sheets this season, more than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League, and made his 100th appearance in the competition against Everton.
• Liverpool have been involved in five goalless league draws this season, the joint highest total in the division along with Portsmouth FC.
• Liverpool's run of seven successive wins in all competitions had been brought to a halt on 23 March as Manchester United FC ran out 3-0 winners at Old Trafford.
• Torres' winner against Reading FC on 15 March made him the first Liverpool player to score 20 goals in a season since Robbie Fowler in 1995/96. The striker has now scored ten goals in his last eight club appearances.
• Only Reina has played all 32 of Liverpool's Premier League games this season. The club's No1 has appeared in all 2,880 minutes of league action.
• Eight of the 24 Premier League goals Liverpool have conceded this season have come in the final 15 minutes. By contrast, they have been breached just four times in the first half-hour.

Injury news
• Andriy Voronin – out 25 January to 26 March (knee)
• Javier Mascherano – out 5-11 March (dead leg)
• Steve Finnan – out since 23 February (groin)
• Harry Kewell – out since 22 March (groin)
• Daniel Agger – out since 15 September (metatarsal)
• Agger is unlikely to play again this season after learning that he must undergo surgery on his troublesome metatarsal injury. The Danish international has been blighted by the problem to his right foot since breaking a bone in mid-September. He has neared full fitness several times since, but suffered a recurrence on each occasion.
• Kewell captained Australia in a friendly international against Singapore on 22 March but picked up a groin injury and was forced to sit out the subsequent 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against China.

International news
• On 26 March Álvaro Arbeloa made his international debut in Spain's 1-0 win against Italy, a match in which Torres and Xabi Alonso also featured. Gerrard was replaced at half-time by his Liverpool team-mate Peter Crouch as England lost 1-0 to France in Paris, but there was better news for Yossi Benayoun, who scored the only goal as Israel overcame Chile in Tel-Aviv.
• Babel appeared as a substitute as the Netherlands fought back from three goals down to defeat Austria 4-3 in Vienna, while Voronin made his return from two months out with a knee injury in Ukraine's 2-0 win against Serbia. Mascherano appeared for Argentina, who won 2-0 in Egypt, although there were defeats for John Arne Riise, whose Norway side lost 3-1 in Montenegro, and Martin Škrtel, part of the Slovakia side who lost 2-1 against Iceland.

Miscellaneous
• Scottish actor Jonathan Watson has been cast as Bill Shankly in a play based on his final days as Liverpool manager. The play, entitled The Shankly Show, has been commissioned as part of Liverpool's European Capital of Culture celebrations and will open on 24 April.
• On 11 March Alonso became a father for the first time as his girlfriend Nagore gave birth to the couple's son Jon.

[She_Gunner_Wales]

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!

Well up for this cant wait!
Liverpool might have a good record in the CL but i dont fear them, lets kick some scouse ARSE!

[SE13]

Starting Eleven

Almunia

Toure
Senderos
Gallas
Clichy

Eboue
Cesc
Hleb
Flamini

RVP
Adebayor

Bench

Theo
Jens
Bendtner
Gilberto
Song
Diaby
Hoyte

[Fabrestuta]

Heh they just showed the teams coming into the ground and Rafa gave Gunnersaurus a playful slap.

[SE13]

Early doors, and already allowing Liverpoo too much possession.....

[Fabrestuta]

Bloody hell first van Persie almost makes a serious f**k up, and then Reina has a rush of blood to the head.

[bigben]

Looks like it's going to be a very physical game

[Fabrestuta]

What a ball from Flamini. If van Persie had used his right we could be one up.

[SE13]

Another match, another server problem!

Van Persie close twice...


Corner...



Adebayor!!

[Fabrestuta]

Gooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllll

[arseman]

There goes Rafa's game plan....

Let's go and kill off this tie now!!