Preview: Liverpool vs. Arsenal: lineups, news about the teams, and prediction

The most anticipated Premier League match of the season is the top-of-the-table match between Liverpool and Arsenal, which takes place at Anfield on Saturday night.

At this stage, the Gunners lead their Merseyside rivals by one point, but Aston Villa is also very close behind and ready to take advantage of any mistakes made by their podium opponents.

Match Preview 

Manchester United prepared to expose Liverpool to a 90-minute tirade last Saturday, as Jurgen Klopp’s team relentlessly attacked the Red Devils’ door in an attempt to gain an advantage, refusing to give any early Christmas presents to their fierce rivals.

Liverpool faced an incredible 34 shots in the Premier League match, the most they had had in a match without scoring since 2003, but Man United came away with a point thanks to their relentless attacking prowess and a few outstanding defensive performances (Raphael Varane in particular deserved his keep).

Liverpool’s performance in Wednesday’s EFL Cup quarterfinal matchup against West Ham United was far from the merciless attacking unit that defeated the Red Devils 7-1 in March. However, Klopp’s team brought the blue-touch paper back, putting on a five-star show in a 5-1 thumping to set up a semi-final matchup with Fulham.

However, Klopp acknowledged that he was disappointed by what he perceived to be a lack of Anfield atmosphere in midweek after watching his charges lose points at home for the first time this season over the weekend. Klopp then issued a rallying cry to supporters as Liverpool looks to avoid losing scoreless in back-to-back Premier League home games for the first time since March 2021.

Before losing to the Red Devils’ defensive dominance, the hosts had bulged the net in 26 straight Premier League games. However, their current winning streak in the league is 10 games, and it has been almost 14 months since Leeds United’s last home loss to Liverpool in the top flight.

Since Brighton & Hove Albion shot to prominence, Arsenal supporters have become all too familiar with the Seagulls’ home losses. However, last weekend at the Emirates, Mikel Arteta’s team clipped Roberto De Zerbi’s team’s wings and took back the top spot in the standings.

A similar scenario played out in the first half of Sunday’s match, one week after an agonising 1-0 loss to Aston Villa, where the Gunners were also their own worst enemies in front of goal. However, thanks to goals from Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus in the second half, and a header from Jesus in the first, Arsenal made sure that their earlier missed opportunities would not come back to haunt them.

The Gunners would be staring down the other 19 Premier League teams for at least a few hours after defeating the team captained by De Zerbi, who declared boldly that Arsenal is currently the best team in the country. Arteta’s team could now be atop the rankings on Christmas Day for the second year running.

Naturally, Arsenal’s status as the “winter champions” was eliminated at the end of the 2022–2023 season, but now that Manchester City is suffering through a December drought and has also postponed their title defence in order to compete for Club World Cup glory, the time has come for the Gunners to bury another championship marker.

Despite the defeat at the Villa Park fortress on December 9, Arteta’s charges haven’t lost back-to-back Premier League games on rival ground since May 2022. Additionally, Arsenal has won their subsequent road match on each of their previous six away losses before being shut down in the West Midlands.

Last season, Arsenal defeated Liverpool 3-2 at the Emirates in two thrilling goals, but they were held to a 2-2 draw at Anfield, where the Reds overcame a 2-0 deficit to win a share of the spoils. Not since Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla in 2012 have the Gunners triumphed in a top-tier match.

Team news 

This weekend, a few long-term Liverpool absentees will still be unable to play: Stefan Bajcetic (calf), Thiago Alcantara (hip), Joel Matip (ACL), Andrew Robertson (shoulder), Diogo Jota (muscle), Alexis Mac Allister (knee), and recent knee injury Ben Doak are all out.

Although it was initially thought that Ryan Gravenberch had injured his hamstring against Manchester United last weekend, the former Bayern Munich player was only experiencing delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS). After taking a midweek break, Gravenberch is expected to rejoin the team on Saturday.

Gravenberch might, however, have to settle for a berth among the substitutes, as Curtis Jones has undoubtedly gained Klopp’s attention after an outstanding brace in Wednesday’s victory over West Ham, where Dominik Szoboszlai also answered recent criticism with a spectacular first-half goal.

Similarly, Jurrien Timber (knee), Fabio Vieira (groyne), Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf), and Thomas Partey (thigh), who has the least chance of playing, will not be available for Arsenal when they travel to Merseyside.

Arsenal’s midfield reserves have been further reduced by new issues with Mohamed Elneny (hamstring) and Jorginho (foot). Against Brighton, the only options available to Arsenal off the bench were Myles Lewis-Skelly and Emile Smith Rowe, but the former two are fighting to be fit in time for Saturday.

But neither player should push their way into an established Arsenal starting lineup that currently selects itself, as Havertz looks to build on his November Player of the Month award-winning performance.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Szoboszlai, Endo, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Diaz

Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli

we predict: Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal 

All due respect to West Ham United, but playing a rested and fully-fit Arsenal team will be a very different proposition than playing a weakened Irons team. If Klopp’s call to arms is ignored, as it should not be, Liverpool’s 11-year winning streak against the Gunners at Anfield could be jeopardised.

Although Gooners may be worried about the next match between Mohamed Salah and Oleksandr Zinchenko, Liverpool showed on Wednesday that their wastefulness against Man United was an isolated incident. William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are capable of shutting off any centre danger.

We really cannot choose a winner in what could be an enthralling match because Arteta’s team continues to be the comeback kings, even though Arsenal has also been guilty of recklessness at times this season.