STRIKING A BALANCE BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Dec 21, 2008 | by Michael Grant

ARSENAL's current league position demonstrates that a club doesn't need to be in the top four to be in the big four.

The North Londoners are languishing - and that's what it is by their standards - in fi fth place in the Premier League as the season nears its half-way point.

That is a surprise, and so too is the position of the team they face this afternoon. Few beyond Merseyside have backed Liverpool to be clear of Manchester United and Chelsea after 17 matches.

Today's fixture will not be the last game which is billed as a test of Liverpool's staying power in the title race. Of course no single match merits such a description, but this is an authentic examination of their place in the pecking order of the championship contenders. So far their record against the other members of the big four is impeccable and they harvested six points from victories over Manchester United and then Chelsea. The latter result was all the more impressive for being Chelsea's first home league defeat in four- and-a-half years.

But another daunting statistic will have to be overcome today. Liverpool have not beaten Arsenal in London for almost nine years. Although a draw would be an acceptable result this time, defeat would heighten speculation that the challenge from Rafa Benitez's men is in decline. Since that defeat of Chelsea in October they have won only four of their eight league games and dropped points to Tottenham, Fulham, West Ham and Hull City. Given that they have surrendered nine points from the last available 21 it is a wonder they have held on to the league leadership at all.

Arsenal, though, can seem brittle.

If they lose today it will be their third home defeat of the season and that will put them 11 points behind Liverpool.

Yet their record against the other big four clubs is a match for Liverpool's. They also took full points from Manchester United and Chelsea (even emulating them by winning at Stamford Bridge) and will feel they can justify the bookmakers who have them as favourites to win today.

Liverpool manager Benitez, expected to soon end the uncertainty over his future by signing a new contract, should be in the dug-out as usual having been in hospital during the week for an operation to have a kidney stone removed.

Surgical instruments would have been handy to extract a meaningful quote from his assistant, Sammy Lee, who deputised for him at the club's weekly press conference.

Lee was not in the mood to bite when asked to reflect on the fact Liverpool have not been the champions of England since 1990. In football terms that amounts to the medieval era: Wimbledon, Norwich City, QPR, Crystal Palace and Luton were in the top flight that season while Bolton were in the old Third Division.

"We know the statistics, " said Lee, tersely. "We all know what has happened in the past but now we are looking to the future. We are trying all we can to change the facts [of not winning title for so long]. But nothing is ever won in December.

"Obviously, we are closer than this time last season. But we won't be making false promises. We are just trying all we can to take as much from this campaign as we can."

Liverpool have been without their talismanic striker, Fernando Torres, since the end of November and his hamstring injury will keep him out again today and until early in the New Year.

The Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, made the understandable claim that Liverpool would struggle to sustain their challenge if Torres continued to be absent for longer than expected.

"In the short term, sometimes you can stay without your stronger players.

But if that should last until March or Aprilm, of course, it will be detrimental to their chances, " Wenger said.

In Torres' continued absence, the choice of spearhead striker in their 4-2-3-1 formation at The Emirates will be significant. If it is not Robbie Keane, then the Irishman may be gone within a month. He was an unused substitute against Hull City and has quickly become a peripheral figure at Anfield.

That much would be confirmed if he is left out in order for Dirk Kuyt to play the lone striker's role. Keane is better suited to it, but Benitez thinks less of him now than he did when he signed him for GBP19 million in July.

Understandably, Keane has become restless.

"I don't know of any footballer who is happy when he isn't playing, " said Lee. Had the management spoken to him after the midweek stories that he may be sold in next month's transfer window?

"I have special chats with all the players every week and Robbie is no different. Players don't like sitting on the bench but it's a squad game, even more so now than ever. It's not just about the 11 that play, its about the whole squad.

"The manager picks the best team for any given game. He decides who will play and will select the best team that he thinks is right. He is aware of everything that is going on, but he makes his own decisions and believes in what he thinks is right."

Keane has scored in only one league game all season, a double against West Brom last month. A couple more in the Champions League has lifted his club total to a measly four. That amounts to failure for a Premier League forward but failure, too, for the manager who paid so much to sign him.