Clash of the week – Arsenal vs Liverpool

Another weekend means another important clash at the top of the Premier League table. This time Arsenal host Liverpool, with both teams coming into this match on the back of narrow 1-0 wins in their midweek European matches.

The rivalry between these two teams has intensified as both have competed at the top in recent years. This season looks to be similar, with the league title likely to go to one of these two or Manchester City. Arsenal will definitely be looking to take all three points, making full use of their home advantage, as they are currently four points behind Liverpool, who go into this weekend in first place. 

Arsenal – What to Expect

Arsenal fell to their first loss of the season last week, somewhat surprisingly losing to Bournemouth in the late afternoon kick off on Saturday. Their loss leaves only one team unbeaten in the Premier League, Manchester City. Arsenal will have hoped for a slightly better start as they have only won five of their opening eight matches, although overall they will be content with being in third place at this stage. The loss incurred last weekend brought to an end their 16 game unbeaten run across all competitions and they will have to do without William Saliba for this match following his sending off against Bournemouth.

He will certainly be a big loss for the Gunners as he has played every single minute in the Premier League since the start of the season. Arsenal will certainly be concerned by his absence as they have yet to keep a clean sheet against Liverpool in their last 17 consecutive head to heads and his absence will make their job of breaking that cycle even more difficult. Arsenal’s injury list also includes captain Martin Odegaard and Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori, with question marks hanging over the availability of Bukayo Saka and Jurien Timber. 

Liverpool – What to Expect

A win for Liverpool in this match will cement what has been an excellent start to the season and the reign of new manager Arne Slot. Few will have expected such a seamless transition between Jurgen Klopp and the new regime but things could barely have started in a more positive way. Should they manage a win on their trip to North London they will move to 24 points and will accomplish their second best start to any Premier League season. The midweek win over RB Leipzig has seen them win their first six competitive away games of the season for the first time in the club’s history, a very impressive feat indeed! Arne Slot also wrote himself into the history books as he is the first manager in England’s top flight to win 11 of his first 12 matches in charge in all competitions. Liverpool will continue to be without Alisson in goal but they have a more than capable deputy in Caoimhin Kelleher, who is doing more than enough to deputise for the Brazilian international and is likely to be a very real challenger for the number 1 jersey sooner rather than later. Diogo Jota is also doubtful for this match and he has been very important for the way Liverpool have played. 

Another man looking to break a record is Kai Havertz. If he manages to score in this match it will be his sixth successive Premier League match in which he has scored and that will match an Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry. Arsenal go into this match as favourites, although it is a measure of how strong Liverpool are that they can be backed at less than odds of 3.0 to win at the Emirates. An interesting clash which, even at this relatively early stage in the season, can have a big impact on the seasons of the two teams.

Odds might have changed since the writing and publication of this article.