BOOKINGS boff Gavin Murphy (@GamePlanGavin) is back with a view on Sunday’s big Premier League contest from the Emirates.
Arsenal v Liverpool | Sunday 16.00 | Sky Sports 1
Two of the so-called heavyweights clash at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon as Liverpool travel to Arsenal.
What can we expect from these clubs over the next 38 games? Who knows but I fancy goals in this particular game more than I do cards, with two teams that like to attack and have vulnerable defences.
The past five encounters between these two teams have produced 20 cards at an average of 4.00 cards-per-game.
Arsenal were the worst team to follow last season for cards, averaging just 1.28 cards-per-game.
The whisteblower in this one is Michael Oliver and he has officiated three of the last five meetings, issuing total card numbers in those games of 5-6-3 – that is an average of 4.67 cards-per-game.
In 2015/16, the 31-year-old from Northumberland averaged 3.73 cards-per-game.
I’m not sure we will see that many cards this weekend.
Instead, I’m looking at the number of Liverpool cards. Oliver averages 1.96 cards-per-game to the Reds over his career.
In last year’s Premier League, Jurgen Klopp’s men typically collected 1.84 c cards-per-league-game.
In 26 league matches in 2015/16 Oliver gave the away team four or more cards on just four occasions (15%), so something similar here looks likely.
The man in black averaged 2.19 cards-per-game to the away team with 2-3 cards being shown to the visitors in 15/26 matches.
With supportive stats, I’m backing Liverpool to receive 2-3 cards with William Hill at 21/20.
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Arsenal v Liverpool – Liverpool to receive 2-3 cards (21/20 William Hill)