Arsenal will welcome Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium in a blockbuster Premier League encounter on Sunday, hoping to retain the top spot in the standings.
Mikel Arteta’s men have been in scintillating form this campaign and have won seven of their eight matches in the Premier League. They are currently at the summit of the league with 21 points and head into Sunday’s big game on the back of a 3-0 success over Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League.
Having won the bragging rights against Tottenham in the North London derby last weekend, Arteta would want his team to go one step further and beat a Liverpool side struggling to find its feet this term.
Arsenal Team News
Emile Smith Rowe and Mohamed Elneny are two long-term casualties for Arsenal and are expected to remain sidelined for months.
The only other concern is the availability of Oleksandr Zinchenko who missed training earlier in the week and was a notable absentee from the Europa League squad.
Predicted Arsenal Lineup vs Liverpool (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper
Often a lively presence between the sticks, Aaron Ramsdale has started the season well and should keep his place in the Arsenal lineup.
Defence
After using a second-string side in the Europa League win over Bodo/Glimt, Arteta will field his strongest possible Arsenal lineup to keep their title charge on track. This means Ben White should start as the right-back. But there is a cloud over the involvement of Zinchenko which could see Kieran Tierney start as the left-back in the Arsenal lineup.
Gabriel Magalhaes will resume his partnership with William Saliba at the heart of the Arsenal backline.
With Liverpool possessing excellent attacking players in the form of Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Luis Diaz, the Gunners’ backline will need to be switched on for the entire 90 minutes to keep a clean sheet at the Emirates Stadium.
Midfield
Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey will look to run the show in midfield. The duo has been in excellent form this season with Xhaka, in particular, relishing his more advanced role. He is making late surging runs into the box and has improved his attacking output.
Thomas Partey will be tasked with breaking up the attacks and move the ball onto the likes of Martin Odegaard who will be the chief supply channel for the enterprising attacking trio.
Attack
A forward line of Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli could cause all kinds of problems for a shaky Liverpool backline. Jesus will spearhead the Gunners’ attack, with Saka and Martinelli providing creativity, pace and directness from wide areas in the Arsenal lineup.
Eddie Nketiah will have to drop back to the bench and hope to get involved in the second half, despite scoring in the 3-0 win over Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League.