Ray Parlour: It's not rocket science, Lacazette and a defender could be the difference in Arsenal's title challenge

The forwards Arsenal have scouted ahead of the transfer window

Arsene Wenger doesn’t need a rocket scientist to work out where their priorities in the remaining week of the transfer market should be, according to Arsenal legend Ray Parlour.

However the ‘Romford Pele’ has warned his former manager that even bringing in the centre-back and striker the club need may not be enough to secure a first Premier League title since 2004 as the top flight’s financial arms race grows ever more fierce.

Both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Liverpool have made significant moves in the transfer window since May, when Arsenal announced the £35million signing of Granit Xhaka. At the Emirates progress has been rather more sedate, with young centre-back Rob Holding and Japanese forward Takuma Asano the only arrivals over the past few weeks.

Just four days before their season begins and the need for a centre-back has become all the more pressing, with pre-season injuries to Per Mertesacker and Gabriel leaving Wenger with just one senior centre-back. It is a problem that Parlour believes must be addressed swiftly.

“It’s not rocket science for Wenger,” Parlour told Standard Sport.“The midfield looks really strong but they don’t have those options at the back.

“Holding’s come in and done well, I know for a fact that the coaches are really pleased with. But he’s still a young lad, you can’t rely on him. Calum Chambers, again, he might play at the weekend but he needs experienced players to learn from.

“Laurent Koscielny will be back very soon but with Mertesacker and Gabriel being out for a while it’s vital they get someone in now.

“And there’s been lots of reports about Inter Milan captain Mauro Icardi, Alexandre Lacazette at Lyon – someone of that quality could be the difference. The midfield creates chances; they just need another striker who can finish them off.”

Arsenal are in the market in both positions but are not expected to bring in either of their leading targets, Valencia centre-back Shkodran Mustafi and Lacazette, before the deadline for registering players for their first game of the season at home to Liverpool. Any new signing would have to be completed by midday on Friday.

In spite of the relatively glacial pace at which Arsenal’s transfer business has moved in recent weeks Arsene Wenger has been keen to remind his critics that only one side outperformed him last season.

And Parlour believes that whether or not Arsenal do bring in the big-money signings that their fans demand may not dictate whether they find themselves as champions in May, if they can take inspiration from Leicester.

He added: “Some new arrivals would certainly give them a chance, but would two signings be enough? I don’t know. It’s so wide open.

“They have to believe they can win it, I’m sure Arsene Wenger told them on the first day of pre-season, ‘you have to believe’.

“Leicester have opened the league’s eyes. Yes they had a bit of luck along the way but they showed to any other club that it can be done. Of course Arsenal have a chance if Leicester do.”

Exclusive: Liverpool and Man City legends reveal all on Capital One Cup final showdown

And it is not too long ago that Liverpool would normally kick off their cup campaigns after City had been knocked out – so great has the gap between the clubs been.

But the tables have turned as the two approach what is a deeply sentimental occasion for both sides.

For City, it represents the first leg of an unlikely treble which would be the perfect parting gift for Manuel Pellegrini who will make way for Pep Guardiola this summer.

In the other dugout stands Jurgen Klopp, attempting to win his first trophy in English football after replacing Brendan Rodgers in October.

The contrast between the two could hardly be more obvious even if they do share a healthy suspicion of the British media: Klopp’s patience has of course not had the time to wear quite so thin.

And the contrast between the clubs does not stop there.

The fans on the day will each have a club legend cheering them on: Liverpool will have John Barnes while Manchester City will have Shaun Goater.

Both are worshipped by season ticket holders and armchair fans alike but standing their records alongside each other tells you all you need to know.

Goater scored 84 goals across three different divisions and helped City into the Premier League with back-to-back promotion campaigns.

Barnes won two top-flight titles, two FA Cups, a League Cup and scored at the Maracana to beat Brazil.

And the pair watching the game will probably have two very different experiences.

“They’re playing for me as a fan now,” says Goater, who only ever reached Wembley as a Man City player when they played Gillingham in the Division Two play-off final.

“It’s very special for Manchester City to be making finals now.

“The players in the last few years have been winning finals and trophies and now they have a great opportunity to win another.

“They face great opposition in Liverpool but it’s still a chance.”

Barnes meanwhile was part of that Liverpool side that Goater could only have dreamed of playing in.

The fact that the 1995 League Cup final against Bolton does not live particularly long in Barnes’ memory is a testament to his success in a Liverpool shirt.

On the day Liverpool turned over Bolton of Divison One without much fuss.

“The favourites tag didn’t weigh heavy on us because we were confident in our ability,” Barnes says.

“You'd always rather be favourites because it means you’re in a better team.

“I remember it as the Steve McManaman cup final [he scored twice in a 2-1 win].

“I don’t think we played particularly well.

“Bolton made it hard for us but Steve pretty much single-handedly won the cup final for us.”

Goater’s Wembley experience was rather different.

The game was goalless until the 81st minute when Gillingham took a lead which they doubled six minutes later.

But Kevin Horlock got one back in the last minute of normal time.

“Normally you’re in the zone and you don’t necessarily notice the fans but I have to say at Wembley, there was that period in the game when City looked out of it,” Goater said.

“But then we scored a goal to get to equalise and then I think five minutes of added time went up and the crowd just lifted.

“People started coming back to their seats.

“Every ball that we controlled, that we passed or that we moved forward got this positive surge from the crowd.

“It was like they grabbed the ball and socked it into the goal.

“Certainly we heard them at that point because every touch, every tackle and every move got that extra bit of noise.

“It made such a difference.”

It must have done as Paul Dickov scored in the dying seconds to equalise and City went up on penalties.

Even the most excitable of fans on that day cannot have dreamed that less than 20 years later they’d be flying back from a Champions League Kiev to go to the cup final at Wembley before resuming their title race.

Of course, there is the small matter of Liverpool’s 4-1 win at the Etihad, one of the early triumphs of the Klopp era.

“I’m sure Man City won’t go into that game and underestimate Liverpool,” Barnes says.

“People may look at the Capital One Cup as the third trophy but it’s still a trophy.

“And I think it’s taken on added significance and the fans have shown that.

“When Arsene Wenger was under pressure because Arsenal hadn’t won a trophy, what he wouldn’t have given to win the Capital One Cup or indeed any trophy.

“Clubs are taking it much more seriously because the fans have made them take it seriously.”

And it is now the fans in red who will be desperate to disturb the gathering dust in their trophy cabinet.

One major trophy in ten years - the League Cup itself - is not what Liverpool fans are used to.

“It’s two attacking sides and two defences you can get at so I can see it being a high-scoring game or at least a very open one with lots of chances,” Barnes says.

“Of course the fans will have a big part to play because Jurgen Klopp has been talking about the Liverpool fans ever since he came.”

They are the words of a champion. One who knows success and failure and treats those two imposters just the same.

Goater meanwhile cannot shake the feeling of disappointment. 

The paranoia that haunts football fans that even when it’s all going well, disaster is just round the corner.

“Liverpool in recent games have started to put together some good results and wins and of course they dismantled us 4-1 at home,” Goater says.

“And we’re a little bit wounded having played Tottenham and lost a huge game in the league. This is where the doubt comes from.

“We certainly have to raise ourselves for this game and prove why we’re favourites to win the Capital One Cup.”

John Barnes and Shaun Goater alongside Capital One will be helping fans make ‘the difference’ at the Capital One Cup Final at Wembley on Sunday, February 28.

Manchester United v Liverpool FC: The options to replace Philippe Coutinho at Old Trafford

The Brazilian midfielder is out of the Old Trafford clash - but who could play instead?

With Liverpool FC’s transfer business done – in terms of incomings, at least – it meansBrendan Rodgers can send his squad away for international duty and plan.

Plan he must, too, after the 3-0 defeat at home to West Ham.

No points, no fight, no Philippe Coutinho.

The Brazilian’s red card effectively ended any hopes of a Liverpool comeback on Saturday, but it could have even graver consequences in a fortnight’s time, with Coutinho missing the trip to Old Trafford.

The Reds boss has enough questions to ask ahead of the game with Manchester United, but his no.10’s unnecessary challenge leaves Rodgers with a dilemma: just who replaces him?

Of course, there is still an international fixture list to navigate, with Liverpool hoping all those sent away come back fit and firing.

There is also no update, as of yet, on the fitness of Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana.

For now, here are the options available to Brendan Rodgers.

IN PICS: Liverpool fans pick their strongest team

BRING IN INGS – PLAY TWO UP FRONT

Ings impressed in his cameo at Anfield, his first taste of Premier League football since his move to Anfield. Though he could play behind the striker, specifically out wide, he would be better moving as close to Christian Benteke as possible.

It would be a risk to go two up-front at Old Trafford, but with Daniel Sturridge nearing a return, it’s a formation the Reds might have to contemplate in the future – particularly given previous success with the diamond formation in 2013-14.

ECHO columnist John Aldridge believes Ings would be the man to give Benteke the support he sorely lacked against the Hammers. Ings’ directness, pace and movement would seem to compliment the Belgian well – and he scored at Old Trafford last season.

West Ham's Mark Noble is sent off for this challenge on Liverpool's Danny Ings Reuters / Eddie Keogh

FIRMINO IN THE CENTRE

A mixed start to life on Merseyside for Roberto Firmino. The club’s new Brazilian has been played out wide so far, with his best position thought to be in a central position.

Coutinho’s absence could give him the chance to operate there.

His pressing from the front would be essential against United, and in his limited time at Liverpool, he appears a player who would benefit having more of the pitch to operate into. He’s provided a function for now, and worked hard – but perhaps it is time to flourish behind Benteke, if only for one game.

Football - Liverpool v West Ham United - Barclays Premier League - Anfield - 29/8/15 Liverpool's Roberto Firmino Reuters / Eddie Keogh Livepic

SAME AS WEST HAM (AND ARSENAL)

The set-up against West Ham did not work – but it did at the Emirates against Arsenal. United, in theory, would be closer to an away game against Arsenal than a home game against West Ham. Just because it didn’t work one week, doesn’t mean it would fail the next.

That would mean keeping the midfield triumvirate of James Milner, Emre Can and Lucas Leiva, with Benteke and Firmino taking up two of the attacking three positions. Instead of Coutinho, however, Jordon Ibe could come back in.

The return of Henderson or Lallana would further complicate matters, but if Liverpool could produce a similar effort against United as they did against the Gunners, Rodgers – and the fans – would be happy.