Preview: Arsenal vs Liverpool – prediction, team news, lineups
The faltering champions meet the in-form challengers on Thursday evening, as Arsenal welcome Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium for a Premier League blockbuster.
The Reds go into the heavyweight clash with a longer unbeaten run than the Gunners, but victory will put Mikel Arteta’s men 17 points clear of the title holders with 17 games remaining.
Match Preview
A good year in the most literal sense for Arsenal, Arteta’s league leaders thrived where their nearest challengers floundered in week 20, despite a disastrous start against Bournemouth which saw Gabriel Magalhaes’ screamer punished by Evanilson.
The Brazilian’s redemption goal and Declan Rice’s brace – his first in the Premier League after 296 games – propelled the Gunners to a critical stage. Comeback victory 3-2 against the Cherries, before London’s red and blue halves celebrated Enzo Fernandez’s late equalizer for Chelsea against Manchester City.
Back-to-back draws for the Sky Blues leave them and Aston Villa six points behind Arsenal, although the deficit will be reduced to three points with victory for either team on Wednesday night, when City take on Brighton & Hove Albion and Villa take on Crystal Palace.
However, as they have done for most of the season, Arsenal have focused on their own business with maximum efficiency and are now on a run of seven wins in all tournaments, including each of their last five Premier League games.
The Gunners may have only triumphed in two matches by more than a goal during this period, but getting results when they are not playing at 100% is often the sign of a champion; However, it is still too early to say that the Gunners will lose the crown.
Nonetheless, Arteta’s men are hot favorites to get the better of Liverpool at a ground where they have won a sensational 14 of their 15 matches this season – including each of the last 12 in a row – and a new slice of history could be made for the men in red and white.
Having beaten Manchester City at the Emirates in 2023-24 and 2024-25, Arsenal could beat the reigning champions in three consecutive home games for the first time in the Premier League era, having not achieved this feat since the early 1960s.
Some Liverpool fans may already be abandoning their team to the same fate as Pep Guardiola’s men, as the positivity of a triumphant four-match streak has been replaced by the pessimism of consecutive draws against Leeds United (0-0) and Fulham (2-2).
The latter’s four-goal thriller saw Harrison Reed bring the Cottagers level deep into injury time with an outrageous long-range strike, just moments after Cody Gakpo had appeared to steal all three points from a lackadaisical Liverpool, who at least maintained their grip on fourth place in the table.
Arne Slot’s side are also just one game away from going 10 unbeaten, but maintaining their unbeaten streak would have been little consolation to disgruntled fans, who may now feel as if the visitors’ previous winning run only papered over the cracks.
Liverpool beat Arsenal 1-0 at Anfield in August thanks to a spectacular Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick, but they have failed to win any of their last three matches at the Emirates and could see their increasingly slim title hopes extinguished entirely on Thursday – if they hadn’t already.
Arsenal form in the Premier League:
Arsenal form (all competitions):
Liverpool Premier League form:
Liverpool form (all competitions):
Team News
Now once again blessed with the best kind of selection concerns, Arteta may only be missing three players for Liverpool’s visit; Max Dowman and Cristhian Mosquera are definitely out with ankle problems, and Riccardo Calafiori is a question mark with his unspecified “weird” injury.
Kai Havertz was left out of the squad to face Bournemouth due to load management reasons, and given the strength of Arsenal’s attacking contingent, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see the recently recovered German being spared again.
After Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke got the nod at the Vitality Stadium, Leandro Trossard and history hunter Bukayo Saka are now set to return; the latter aims to become the first Arsenal player to score in four consecutive home league games against Liverpool.
Liverpool are nowhere near as lucky on the attacking front, with Mohamed Salah (AFCON) and Alexander Isak (leg) permanently out, and fans are also eagerly awaiting to hear the latest news on Hugo Ekitike, who missed the Fulham draw with a muscle problem “a bit more” than just delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
Florian Wirtz – scorer of Liverpool’s opening goal against Fulham – is also not fully fit as he deals with a hamstring problem, but there is no indication the £116million man will miss the clash with the leaders.
However, Giovanni Leoni (ACL) and Wataru Endo (ankle) will play no part in Thursday’s match, and Slot could very well stick to the same Craven Cottage XI, although Jeremie Frimpong is an alternative in the right-back or right-wing slots.
Possible Arsenal starting lineup:
Raya; Bois, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Gyokères, Trossard
Possible Liverpool starting XI:
Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Szoboszlai, Wirtz, Jones; Gakpo
We say: Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool
No team has beaten Arsenal more times in the Premier League than Liverpool, who have got the better of their hosts on 26 occasions, but all signs point to a glorious night from the Gunners on Thursday.
Liverpool are short on strikers and morale, while Arsenal continue to find new ways to win and also have the Emirates factor on their side, so Arteta’s men should break the 50-point barrier and move further away from the soon-to-be deposed champions.
For data analysis of most likely outcomes, scores and more for this match, please click here.