Gameweek nine of the 2024-25 Premier League season concludes with a tussle of titanic proportions at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon, when title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool butt heads.
Both English behemoths were unconvincing winners in their midweek Champions League affairs, as the Gunners edged out Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 before the Reds conquered RB Leipzig by the same scoreline.
Match preview
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Prior to last weekend's trip to the South Coast, Arsenal fans had to go back to New Year's Eve 2023 for the last time that their side were bested in a Premier League away fixture, but more alarming indiscipline from Mikel Arteta's men cost them dear against Bournemouth.
William Saliba's first-half sending-off did not mean that the tie was a foregone conclusion - Arsenal had held out for draws against Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City with 10 - but a well-worked Ryan Christie goal from a corner and Justin Kluivert's penalty ended the Gunners' wonderful 12-game unbeaten road run in the Premier League.
Not only that, defeat at the Vitality Stadium was Arsenal's first in half a year, a statistic that a bullish Arteta emphasised in his press conference as his side missed the opportunity to spend Saturday evening top of the rankings; they go into the weekend third and four points adrift of the leading visitors.
A Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka-less side lacked ingenuity once again when Shakhtar came to visit in the Champions League, where only an unfortunate own goal from Dmytro Riznyk got Arteta's men over the line, but that one-goal triumph does mean that the hosts are on a five-game winning streak at the Emirates.
All in all, nine of Arsenal's last 10 competitive matches at their North London home have ended in victory, but Gooners may travel in trepidation rather than optimism; Arsenal have won just 45% of their Premier League games without the banned Saliba compared to 74% with him in the team.
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A Liverpool side with no such disciplinary concerns to worry about head to the Emirates with an Arne Slot spring in their step, as the Dutchman continues to send Merseyside records tumbling since stepping into the mammoth shoes of Jurgen Klopp.
The Reds passed one of the toughest challenges of their title credentials yet on October 20, when Chelsea rocked up to Anfield and gave Liverpool a terrific run for their money, but Mohamed Salah's penalty and Curtis Jones's toe-poke kept the Reds at the summit after Manchester City's dramatic beating of Wolverhampton Wanderers just hours before.
While Liverpool are one point better off than the holders at the time of writing, they will drop to second by the time Sunday's game kicks off if City get the better of lowly Southampton on Saturday, and their victory in Leipzig on Wednesday did not come without several scares.
However, Die Roten Bullen's own wastefulness and offensive naivety also helped the Reds make it eight victories in a row across all competitions, and Slot has astonishingly won each of his first six away games in charge of Liverpool, seeing his team ship a paltry two goals in the process.
Success on Sunday would move Liverpool onto 24 points from their first nine games of the new term - only once before have the Reds managed as many points at this stage of a Premier League campaign, taking 25 from nine in their triumphant 2019-20 year.
Liverpool's powers in this fixture have waned over the past couple of terms, though - Arsenal have prevailed in their last two top-flight games at the Emirates and are unbeaten in four against the Reds in the Premier League, although they did come up short in January's FA Cup third-round tie on home soil.
Team News
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With Saliba banned, Kieran Tierney out of the picture and Takehiro Tomiyasu sustaining a fresh knee setback, the last thing that Arteta needed on Tuesday evening was to lose another defender to injury - lo and behold, Riccardo Calafiori was forced off in the second half after an awkward fall.
Arteta immediately admitted that the Italian's condition was "not great", and he was not seen in training on Friday - nor were Jurrien Timber (muscle) or Bukayo Saka (hamstring).
Arteta refused to rule any of them out in his pre-game press conference, though, and his mind games with the media know no bounds, so there is every chance that at least two of them will be available for the game. The same cannot be said for Martin Odegaard, however.
Reports have suggested that Saka is hopeful of being fit for the visit of the Reds, where Kai Havertz could become the first Arsenal player since Thierry Henry to score in six successive Premier League home matches.
Of course, it is not just Arteta who is without a fundamental defensive figure, as Liverpool number one Alisson Becker remains out with a thigh injury, although Caoimhin Kelleher earned his keep in midweek with several top saves to keep Leipzig out.
Alisson is joined in the infirmary by Harvey Elliott (foot) and Diogo Jota (abdominal) - the latter's absence guarantees another start up front for Darwin Nunez - while Federico Chiesa and Conor Bradley are both uncertain.
Slot has a better kind of dilemma to solve on the left flank, where Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo are both vying for a start, but Jones's winner against Chelsea should not be enough to see him break up the established midfield order of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and a rejuvenated Ryan Gravenberch.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, White, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Merino, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz; Nunez
We say: Arsenal 0-0 Liverpool
The prospective return of Saka will slightly aid Arsenal on the creativity front, but Arteta's crop are now welcoming the meanest defence that the Premier League has to offer, one that has given up just three goals thus far.
Liverpool also rode their luck against Leipzig, though, and Arsenal can still put out a fearsome rearguard even without the influential Saliba. Avoiding defeat should be priority number one for the hosts on Sunday, where a dull draw is not beyond the realm of possibility.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
