4 days ago
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Who: Arsenal vs Liverpool
What: English Premier League
Where: Emirates Stadium successful London, United Kingdom
When: Thursday, January 8, astatine 8pm (20:00 GMT).
How to follow: We volition person each the build-up connected Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT successful beforehand of our substance commentary stream.
Table-topping Arsenal entertain defending champions Liverpool successful a mouth-watering offering successful the English Premier League connected Thursday, with glory connected connection for the erstwhile but pridefulness heavy astatine involvement for the latter.
The Gunners are searching for their archetypal league rubric since 2003, portion the Reds are licking their wounds from a play that has astir inexplicably imploded pursuing their runaway occurrence past term.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a person look astatine the lucifer successful which a location triumph is afloat expected, but thing tin ever beryllium taken for granted successful the Premier League.
How person Arsenal fared successful the Premier League this season?
The Gunners person stormed to apical spot arsenic manager Mikel Arteta looks to spell 1 amended than 3 consecutive second-placed finishes successful the English apical flight.
Only 1 decision successful 21 matches to statesman the play – the nonaccomplishment coming astatine Liverpool – has marked Arsenal arsenic the squad to halt connected each fronts. Free-scoring successful beforehand of the extremity and miserly astatine the back, Arteta appears to person yet cracked the code.
How bash things basal successful the Premier League rubric race?
The spread with second-placed Manchester City is six points, up of Pep Guardiola’s broadside welcoming Brighton and Hove Albion astatine the Etihad Stadium connected Wednesday.
Aston Villa are level connected points with City, and question to Crystal Palace connected Wednesday, but their 4-1 defeat astatine the hands of Arsenal connected December 30 was regarded arsenic a superior dent to their rubric ambitions.
What has gone incorrect for Liverpool successful the Premier League this season?
The Reds enjoyed a stunning commencement to the caller campaign, which made their demise this play each the much alarming. Slot’s broadside won their opening 5 league matches arsenic portion of a seven-game winning tally successful each competitions.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot insists his reigning champions tin inactive bash “special things” this season.
“It is 9 games unbeaten but we person decidedly had 2 draws excessively many,” Slot told a pre-match quality league connected Wednesday.
A large woody of the absorption for the Reds’ slide, which saw them suffer the pursuing 4 Premier League games connected the bounce aft their good start, has focused connected the fallout with their iconic guardant Mohamed Salah.
Slot has insisted the nine person moved connected since Salah’s departure for planetary work with Egypt astatine the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, but questions stay crossed the park.
“We haven’t had the consistency but we’ve already beaten immoderate precise bully teams, truthful that tells you the endowment is decidedly determination but the consistency isn’t,” helium said.
Only 41 goals were conceded by Liverpool past season, but 28 person already been fto successful during their 20 games truthful acold this season.
The monolithic summertime spending spree, which was headlined by Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz arsenic marquee signings, has seemingly unsettled the equilibrium of a broadside that stormed to the rubric past season.
The endowment of both, and the remainder brought in, is rather clear, but whether Slot tin gel them into a broadside susceptible of salvaging this play and beyond remains to beryllium seen.
The manager believes his broadside are inactive successful the reckoning successful the league.
“There’s a batch of value connected this lucifer due to the fact that we inactive person a batch to play for successful the Premier League,” said Slot.
What happened the past clip Arsenal played Liverpool?
Liverpool secured a 1-0 win against Arsenal successful an early-season brushwood betwixt the sides successful the Premier League connected August 31 astatine Anfield.
Dominik Szoboszlai scored the lone extremity of the crippled with an explosive free-kick successful the 83rd infinitesimal of an different choky match.
What happened successful the corresponding crippled betwixt Arsenal and Liverpool past season?
The sides could not beryllium separated successful past season’s Premier League lucifer astatine Emirates Stadium, though Liverpool had to doubly travel from down – including a precocious Mohamed Salah leveller – to snare a 2-2 draw.
Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino had fixed the Gunners the pb doubly successful the archetypal fractional with Virgil van Dijk netting successful between.
The Reds, however, had to nervously hold until the 81st infinitesimal for Salah to unafraid a point.
When did Arsenal past bushed Liverpool?
Arsenal’s past triumph against Liverpool came 3 seasons ago, courtesy of a 3-1 triumph astatine Emirates Stadium successful February 2024.
A fiery lucifer saw 9 yellowish cards shown and Reds defender Ibrahima Konate sent disconnected successful the 88th infinitesimal erstwhile his broadside were inactive searching for an equaliser.
Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli scored successful either fractional to doubly springiness the Gunners the lead, either broadside of Gabriel Magalhaes’s ain goal.
Leandro Trossard rounded disconnected the scoring successful the 90th minute.
Stat onslaught – Arsenal
The Gunners are connected a seven-game winning streak, during which they person netted 13 goals and conceded lone six – 2 of which came successful the triumph against Brighton successful their past game.
The northbound Londoners are the lone squad to clasp an unbeaten location grounds successful the Premier League astatine this stage, winning 9 of their 10 matches astatine Emirates Stadium. The Gunners person fired successful 26 goals successful beforehand of their ain fans successful the league this season, and conceded lone five.
Bukayo Saka, specified a immense portion of the Gunners’ signifier of caller seasons, is aiming to go the archetypal Arsenal subordinate to people successful 4 consecutive league location games against Liverpool.
Stat onslaught – Liverpool
Liverpool are unbeaten successful 9 matches, winning five, but person drawn their past 2 – some successful the league.
The Reds person kept lone 1 cleanable expanse successful their past 7 league matches – a 2-0 location victory against Brighton and the 0-0 gully astatine Leeds 2 games ago.
Eight goals person been shipped successful that time, with 12 scored.
Four of their six defeats this play person travel connected the roadworthy – wherever they person besides won 4 and drawn 2 – with 18 goals conceded connected their travels and lone 17 scored.
Even bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers person not shipped truthful galore goals distant from home.
Arsenal vs Liverpool – stat attack
Liverpool are unbeaten successful 3 matches against Arsenal, winning the past lucifer and drafting twice.
That triumph for the Reds, however, ended a six-match winless tally successful the league, during which the Gunners won twice.
The past triumph for the Reds anterior to that agelong was the past clip the Merseysiders won astatine Emirates Stadium, backmost successful March 2022, with goals from Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota.
The Gunners person won 2 of the 3 league meetings successful London since then.
Head-to-head
This is the 246th gathering betwixt the sides, with Liverpool winning 95 of the matches and Arsenal emerging victorious connected 81 occasions.
Arsenal squad news
Max Dowman and Cristhian Mosquera miss out, with some struggling with ankle problems, portion Riccardo Calafiori is simply a uncertainty owed to an unspecified injury.
Kai Havertz was rested from the squad that was named for the triumph astatine Bournemouth and whitethorn person to marque bash with a spot connected the seat astatine champion arsenic his betterment from a erstwhile wounded is managed.
Predicted Arsenal starting lineup
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard
Liverpool squad news
Salah remains astatine AFCON with Egypt, portion Isak is simply a semipermanent absentee with a limb injury.
Fellow guardant Hugo Ekitike missed the gully with Fulham owed to a musculus occupation and remains a doubt.
Florian Wirtz is nursing a hamstring occupation but is expected to proceed to play done the issue.
Giovanni Leoni and Wataru Endo stay longer-term absentees.
Predicted Liverpool starting lineup
Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Szoboszlai, Wirtz, Jones; Gakpo
Arsenal and Liverpool signifier guides
- Arsenal: W-W-W-W-W
- Liverpool: W-W-W-D-D
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