Arsenal – Liverpool Match Review and Player Evaluations

Liverpool will face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in London this weekend in the 9th week of the Premier League calendar. Liverpool are top of the Premier League, while Arsenal are third, four points behind the Reds. The win keeps them seven points ahead of the Gunners at the top of the table and one point ahead of Manchester City, provided they beat Southampton.

The Reds come into this match with eleven wins from twelve games in total and are currently on an eight-game winning streak, unbeaten since losing to Nottingham Forest in mid-September.

However, Arsenal go into this game in much tougher circumstances, having lost some of their key players to injury over the last few weeks and currently missing suspended centre-back William Saliba. Arsenal’s starting XI will look very different. to what we are used to.

Arsenal

The London team will not have many players in this match due to injuries and suspensions. The most notable of this group is star defender William Saliba. The French player was suspended after a red card violation in the 2-0 defeat against Bournemouth last weekend. Other absences include names such as Riccardo Calafiori, Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber, who did not train yesterday. However, it should also be said that Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is extremely reserved about the situation of these players and whether they will be officially excluded from the squad. Unfortunately, we won’t know until the teams are announced on Sunday.

Liverpool

All things considered, Liverpool enter this match relatively healthy. Arne Slot appeared At Friday’s press conference, he said that some players, such as new signing Federico Chiesa and young right-back Conor Bradley, would return to training soon. It has been confirmed that Diogo Jota will be excluded from the squad due to a rib injury sustained in last week’s match against Chelsea and that Alisson Becker will not feature in at least this match and the back-to-back matches against Brighton. At the same time Uncovered by James Pearce Scans revealed that Trent Alexander-Arnold had a muscle problem ‘manageable’.

Here’s how we think both teams will line up on Sunday.

Arsenal – (4-2-2-2)

Raya; Partey, White, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Rice, Merino; Saka, Martinelli; Havertz, Trossard

Liverpool – (4-2-3-1)

GK: Caoimhin Kelleher – Alisson is still sidelined and fears he may not return until the next international break at the end of November. The 25-year-old Irishman is back at the helm. After incredible performances against both Chelsea and RB Leipzig last week, he looks set to continue his stunning form in the biggest match of the year so far.

Left Left: Trent Alexander-Arnold – After being substituted earlier than most would have expected in the match against RB Leipzig, many assumed it was for rest purposes this weekend, but it turns out the Scouser has been dealing with some muscle issues which have been managed. With Conor Bradley not taking part in the matches due to his own injury, we cannot afford to lose our big weapon in the next matches.

CB: Ibrahima Konate – Continuing his ridiculous start to the season, Ibou will need to be in top form this weekend as Arsenal and their set-piece antics will pose a threat. With an 80%+ aerial win rate percentage (the highest of any centre-back), he will be at the forefront of the Reds’ defense against Arsenal.

CB: Virgil van Dijk – The funniest thing about Big Virg is that this guy puts in top-notch performances week in and week out and it doesn’t go unnoticed because that’s the accepted norm for a player of his caliber. Both he and his partner Ibou will not have an easy time defending every set piece of the Arsenal team.

Left Left: Andrew Robertson – Robertson, who was rested in midweek and allowed Konstas Tsimikas to take over the game, will look after his side defending against Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka. It remains to be seen whether the young Englishman will play in this match and whether Arteta will risk further deterioration. But if the Gunners’ manager is anything like his former boss Pep Guardiola, Saka will be in this game and Robbo will need to be fit too.

CDM: Ryan Gravenberch – The young Dutchman has established himself as a consistent presence in the middle of the pitch, with performance after performance as a top-level defensive midfielder. It’s like he woke up at the beginning of the season and decided to be the best midfielder in the league. I expect a controlled performance from the young man again. It’s scary to think that he’s only 22 years old.

CDM: Alexis Mac Allister – The unsung hero of the midfield, quietly producing in every match, controlling the tempo and midfield flow and allowing those around him to develop. He does all the little things and simple things right, which makes our midfield one of the best this season. Watch this entire match and I promise you, you’ll see what the rest of us see.

RW: Mohamed Salah – The King of Egypt has been on fire this season with seven goals and seven assists in twelve games. He is behind only Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka in total assists this season. Considering Arsenal’s backline is depleted, I expect our forwards, especially Salah, to enjoy it. He will face a young Lewis-Skelly in this match and I feel sorry for the young man to face Mo in this form.

Camera: Dominik Szoboszlai – They performed better in the last meeting against RB Leipzig and improved on their performance against Chelsea last weekend. We saw in midweek that Dom has the ability to help us break low blocks, which we suspect will form the basis of this game given Arsenal’s defensive problems. These quick little link-up passes and short one-two moves will be crucial if we are to break the Arsenal defence.

Left Left: Luis Diaz – Lucho, who was rested in the middle of the week, will be a big part of our attack this weekend. If our prediction is correct for Arsenal, he will face either right-back Thomas Partey or Jurrien Timber/Jakub Kiwior. Arsenal could deploy Ben White that side just to deal with the Colombian’s pace, but that leaves the central channels free for the likes of Darwin Núñez to get into the box and run in behind.

ST: Darwin Núñez – Having produced back-to-back brilliant performances with a ridiculous work ethic against Chelsea and a poacher mentality for the winning goal against RB Leipzig, Darwin enters this game with a golden opportunity to cement his starting striker position in the absence of Diogo Jota. As Arsenal’s defense is quite lean and muscular apart from Gabriel Magalhãoes, Núñez has a great opportunity to run circles around Arsenal defenders using his physical attributes, speed, height, aerial ability and work rate. I’m so excited to see him this weekend.

Arsenal-Gabriel Magalhaes

With Arsenal’s defense thus depleted, everything about Liverpool’s attack coming their way will be Gabriel’s responsibility. The makeshift quartet will need to stay organized and error-free to leave here with a clean slate.

Liverpool – Darwin Núñez

Núñez has the chance to cement his place in the starting 11 for this match; Despite how poor the defense is for Arsenal at the moment, Darwin’s pace and strength should be used to their full extent, his work ethic returning to midfield and winning duels all over the pitch. His height and aerial ability will be needed to defend set pieces but I can see him scoring or providing an assist in this game and continuing his form in the last two games.

Where?

Emirates Stadium, London, United Kingdom

Time?

16:30 GMT Start

Match Officials?

Referee: Anthony Taylor. Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn. Fourth referee: Sam Barrott. PRESENT: Michael Salisbury. VAR Assistant: Darren Cann.

Previous Results?

In the last 36 matches between the two teams, Liverpool won 14 times, Arsenal won 8 times and 14 matches ended in a draw.