Venue: Anfield
Record (W-L-D), Points, and Last 5 Results
Liverpool: Record (2-0-0) (6 pts) Form – LWWWW
- Arsenal (Wembley): Lost 1-1 (Pens)
- Blackpool (H/Friendly): Won 7-2
- Leeds United (H): Won 4-3
- Chelsea (A): Won 2-0
- Lincoln City (A): Won 7-2
Arsenal: Record (2-0-0) (6 pts) Form – WWWWW
- MK Dons (A/Friendly): Won 4-1
- Liverpool (Wembley): Won 1-1 (Pens)
- Fulham (A): Won 3-0
- West Ham (H): Won 2-1
- Leicester City (A): Won 2-0
Possible Absences:
Liverpool:
- Jordan Henderson (Injury)
- Joel Matip (Injury)
- Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Injury)
- Alisson Becker (Injury)
- Thiago Alcantara (Injury)
Arsenal:
- Skhodran Mustafi (Injury)
- Gabriel Martinelli (Injury)
- Calum Chambers (Injury)
- Pablo Mari (Injury)
- Emile Smith Rowe (Injury)
- Cedric Soares (Injury)
- Kieran Tierney (Injury)
- Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Injury)
Predicted Starting XI:
Liverpool (4-3-3)
- Adrian
- Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil Van Dijk, Andy Robertson
- Naby Keita, Fabinho, Gini Wijnaldum
- Mohammed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane
Arsenal (3-4-3)
- Bernd Leno
- Rob Holding, Gabriel, David Luiz
- Hector Bellerin, Dani Ceballos, Granit Xhaka, Bukayo Saka
- Willian, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Liverpool host Arsenal at Anfield on Monday in what will be the first of two back to back meetings between the sides. Both teams have a 100% record going into the match. Arsenal will look to show they’re capable of a top four finish, while Liverpool are looking for revenge for the loss on penalties in the Community Shield.
There are some long-term injuries for Arsenal that have been known for some time, but other than that Soares, Sokratis, and Tierney are the only ones that might miss out. They were held out of the cup game midweek but have returned to training and look to be in contention.
For Liverpool Henderson, Matip, and Oxlade-Chamberlain had all already been ruled out. News broke out on Sunday that both Alisson and Thiago are also injury concerns. They both didn’t train with the team and their involvement will be decided by late fitness tests. With Henderson out it made it more likely that Thiago would get his first start as a Liverpool player. So, with Gomez coming back from injury at the perfect time, if Thiago doesn’t play that would probably mean Fabinho will move up to center defensive-mid, and Gomez will fill in for him next to Van Dijk. And rather obviously Adrian will replace Alisson should he miss out as well.
Liverpool vs Arsenal normally brings goals, and this game shouldn’t be any different. Arsenal have been much improved since the arrival of Mikel Arteta and will look to show their improvement with a win. Liverpool, while possibly missing their starting goalie and new acquisition Thiago, should still feel confident they can get their revenge on their opponents.
My Prediction: Liverpool 3 – 1 Arsenal. As good as Arsenal have been, I think Liverpool will be driven to get revenge on Arsenal and make a statement to the rest of Premier League. With Manchester City dropping points against Leicester City, this game becomes even more important. While it’s early on in the season, they could create space between Arsenal and Man City, who as of now look like some of their title challengers. Arsenal are still a very dangerous opposition which is why I find it hard to believe they won’t at least get one goal in this game.
The Possible Absences and Starting XI portions of the article will be updated as necessary up until starting lineups are announced