Liverpool and Arsenal are both probably fairly definitively out of the Premier League race at this point. With Tottenham and Manchester City starting to at least pull away just a bit from the rest of the pack for second and third, there's potentially just one spot left in the Champions League for the 2017-18 season. Both the Reds and Gunners know that snaring points against the other is crucial on Saturday.
At 12:30 p.m. ET, tune into NBC Sports Network for live television coverage of this Premier League match on Saturday, March 4, 2017, at Anfield.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Liverpool +104
Arsenal +278
Draw +247
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
For all intents and purposes, these two teams are basically one and the same, and that's why Liverpool is set at +104, essentially giving it the nod due to home pitch advantage. That said, nothing would be all that surprising, and that's why the margins are so darn close with Arsenal at +278 on the moneyline and the draw set at +247.
The total is relatively high at 2.5 with -135 vig on the over.
Key Injuries
It feels like the Gunners just haven't been able to stay healthy this year at any point. Aaron Ramsey and Yaya Sanogo are both long-term absentees, but the real question marks rest with Mesut Ozil, Laurent Koscielny, Mohamed Elneny and Mathieu Debuchy. All four are probably more likely to play than not with various minor ailments, but nothing is a given, especially for Ozil since he was sent home on Wednesday due to illness to keep from infecting the rest of the club.
Jordan Henderson sat out against Leicester City last weekend with a foot problem, and that proved to be a big deal for the Reds in their stunningly bad performance. Jurgen Klopp has said little about his status for this week, and that leads us to believe that the midfielder is probably going to end up being a scratch unless things change between now and the weekend.
Recent Form
It feels like every time Liverpool takes a step in the right direction, it follows that up with a horrifying dud. Case in point. A 1-1 draw in a hard fought match against Chelsea was followed by a 2-0 dud against Hull City. The 2-0 victory that was awfully comprehensive over Tottenham? That preceded a 3-1 loss at Leicester City. There's a reason why no one is really successfully challenging Chelsea for the top spot in England, and this is why. Inconsistencies are abound at the top.
Arsenal largely has the same issues. The good news though, is that the Gunners have been off since February 20 thanks to Southampton playing in the EFL Cup Final last week against Manchester United. Arsenal really needed that time to regroup, as it has to play against Liverpool now, its first real EPL challenge since beating Hull City 2-0 on February 11. In the meantime, the Gunners were also embarrassed to the tune of a 5-1 defeat at Bayern Munich.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
The sad thing is that both of these teams have an immense amount of talent. What separates them really is their managers. Klopp is always trying new things with his side, and that's really keeping it from getting into a nice groove at this late stage of the season. Arsene Wenger is largely being stubborn and staying to his ways, and that's why the Gunners have become a bit predictable on the pitch and have made for easy work for even some of the suspect clubs.
Liverpool knows exactly what is coming on Saturday, and though we shouldn't expect anything like the 4-3 cracker of a match we got in August when these two sides met in the opening weekend of the year, this should be another three points for the Reds.
Premier League Odds: Liverpool 1, Arsenal 0
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