Liverpool urged to target under-fire Arsenal star with ‘key to winning’ identified for Jurgen Klopp
David James has encouraged Liverpool to target Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya when the two sides face off at Anfield on Saturday evening.
Aston Villa will move to the top of the league if they beat Sheffield United on Friday but the winner at Anfield between Liverpool and Arsenal on Saturday would be at the summit at Christmas.
After Liverpool and Man Utd served up the dampest of squibs last weekend, it’s hoped that Jurgen Klopp‘s side and Arsenal will treat fans to a pre-Christmas Premier League classic.
Arsenal have kicked on this season after they fell short to Man City in the race for the Premier League title in 2022/23 but summer signing Raya has been heavily criticised.
Having joined the Gunners on loan from Premier League rivals Brentford, Raya has moved ahead of Aaron Ramsdale in the pecking order but the Spain international has made several big mistakes this season.
Ex-Liverpool goalkeeper James thinks his former club should look to take advantage of Raya’s lack of confidence.
“Arsenal have got a goalkeeper in David Raya who, from what I’ve seen, isn’t fully confident,” James said in an interview with instantcasino.com.
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“If he’s not confident, then the Arsenal defence won’t be confident. His positioning is definitely questionable from my perspective, and if I’m Liverpool I’d be shooting from silly positions.
“With Raya’s positioning, there’s the opportunity to score from places that you normally would not, and with the ability of Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, they can definitely nick a 1-0 win.
“Unfortunately for Aaron Ramsdale, he’s had three or four games in the past couple of months. This is the tough thing about being the number two goalkeeper – you’re looking at your manager thinking, ‘I know you don’t fancy me’, and you have to take on a different role in the squad.”
James also reckons Liverpool need to “keep Martin Odegaard quiet” as the Arsenal standout is a “wonderful player”.
“The key for Liverpool winning is keeping Martin Odegaard quiet,” James added.
“He’s such a wonderful player to watch – he takes up brilliant positions and makes defenders and midfielders question where they’re supposed to be. When top sides like City last season kept him quiet, it prevented Arsenal from playing properly and going through the gears.
“It doesn’t necessarily make for the most attractive of matches, but I don’t think Liverpool need to be pleasing people with aesthetics at the moment. A scrappy, horrible 1-0 win is all they would need.”
