The coin flip might be the most disregarded part of the game of football. How many times can you say in reflection of a game that you have ever though that who won the coin flip was integral in winning a game?
Answer: Probably never.
However, for Arsenal, their Sunday game against Liverpool suddenly has brought this usually insignificant part of the match into focus. The game itself is absolutely massive for the Gunners who know that losing to the Merseyside club would hand control of the league to rivals Manchester City.
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The Reds’ 0-0 draw with Chelsea saw Jurgen Klopp rest plenty of first-team stars including Trent Alexander-Arnold. Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and A ndrew Robertson came on as second-half substitutes and will all likely start on Sunday.
However, remove all the preparation, injury news and tactical thought from the game for a second and consider the simple starting process. In the last three home league games the Gunners have kicked off in the second half upon the decision made with the coin flip.
In two of those three games, Bournemouth and Leeds United a big chance was created by the visiting side. For Bournemouth, it ended in a goal for the Cherries with Phillip Billing stunning the Gunners with what turned out to be the second-fastest goal in Premier League history.
Rewind to October of last year and Liverpool suffered a first-minute goal of their own to the Gunners. Having, ironically, kicked off the game themselves they went aimlessly long and Arsenal recovered possession before breaking, Martin Odegaard setting through Gabriel Martinelli who beat Alisson.
It’s evident that a more thought-through kick-off has shown the Gunners to be somewhat vulnerable. Arsenal, should they win the coin flip, on Sunday might want to choose to kick-off themselves and look to prevent an early attack from Liverpool to avoid a growing regularity in their games.
No one is underestimating the importance of the game on Sunday. However, there might be plenty who have overlooked that the coin flip could be the most important in Arsenal’s history.
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