Arsenal vs Liverpool FA Cup betting tips, BuildABet, best bets and preview
Football betting tips: FA Cup
2pts Liverpool to score 2+ goals at 13/8 (Betfair, Paddy Power)
This was the nailed-on TV selection when the draw was made. There was no chance any other contest would get the prime spot of the weekend.
Two sides involved in the Premier League title race go head-to-head in FA Cup action - an intriguing battle hinged on how both managers consider it.
Do you rotate to rest legs or do you aim to build momentum? The Gunners' lapse in league form plays into the hands of them taking this quite seriously - and they are a club that has enjoyed recent success in this competition.
AFCON and the Asia Cup impact both squads - hitting the the visitors harder with Mohamed Salah away - but it should be a game in which we see two teams closely resemble what we get in England's top-flight.
What are the best bets?
Even without the influential Salah, Liverpool will still have plenty of options.
There's also a chance that due to availability they're forced to go fairly strong anyway. Jurgen Klopp's pre-match comments hint at this.
"I'm not sure if Arsenal is a game to rotate," he told his press conference. "I sit here I'm not 100% if we have the opportunity to do so, we don't have the biggest squad available."
As for a bet, at 13/8, you can back LIVERPOOL TO SCORE 2+ GOALS which provides the most appeal.
We could see a forward line of Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez, while Luis Diaz remains an option. Curtis Jones has also delivered an attacking threat from midfield areas.
Arsenal's defence has been vulnerable. They've kept just one clean sheet across their last eight games in all competitions - and they've conceded two or more in three of the last seven.
If it was a normal Premier League game, Liverpool would be the bet at the prices. Instead, we'll play it a little safer at 13/8 for them to score a couple.
BuildABet @ 22/1
- Joe Gomez 3+ tackles
- Curtis Jones 2+ total shots
- Liverpool to score 2+ goals
- Liverpool 4+ corners
A disclaimer here that this is the FA Cup and rotation is always possible. I've included a couple of players who I think will be involved.
Joe Gomez has, unsurprisingly, seen his tackle count rise since a switch to left-back due to covering for injuries. He had a huge number of six despite coming on as a first-half substitute in the recent league meeting between these two.
He also had five away at Luton and three at Burnley. Given Arsenal's talent down the right side of the pitch, there's every chance he can get three here.
Curtis Jones should feature in the Liverpool midfield after a goal-scoring performance which also delivered five shots in a brilliant win over Newcastle.
The Reds should see opportunities to strike and their place as outsiders means we can take the lower than usual corner count.
Team news
The hosts have lost a couple of players to the international tournaments about to get underway.
Mohamed Elneny links up with Liverpool's Salah in the Egypt squad at the African Cup of Nations, while Takehiro Tomiyasu is now on Asian Cup duty with Japan.
Defender Oleksandr Zinchenko was a miss for the last game against Fulham and there's every chance he joins the injured Thomas Partey, Jurrien Timber and Fabio Vieira again.
Alongside Salah, the visitors will be without midfield Wataru Endo - he joins Tomiyasu in the Japan squad.
Stefan Bajcetic, Joel Matip, Andrew Robertson, Thiago Alcantara and Kostas Tsimikas remain out, while midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai will also be absent after going off injured against Newcastle.
Predicted line-ups
Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli.
Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Gomez; Jones, Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Jota, Gakpo, Diaz.
Odds correct at 1615 GMT (05/01/24)
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