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Arsenal’s 2-0 loss at Bournemouth a week ago was their first defeat in any competition this term. It leaves them four points behind Liverpool, who have exceeded expectations under Arne Slot.
Mikel Arteta is experiencing the worst injury crisis of his tenure at Arsenal. William Saliba’s suspension following his red card at the Vitality Stadium couldn’t have come at a worse time, with the league leaders set to visit the Emirates.
Martin Odegaard definitely won’t recover in time for Sunday, but there is hope that Bukayo Saka could be available for selection which would be a huge boost.
Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber are also doubts. With Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney still sidelined, Arteta might have to deploy Thomas Partey at full-back.
If Arsenal come away from this game empty-handed, they would already be seven points off the top. Expect them to do everything possible to get their key players fit.
Skeptics might have pointed out Liverpool’s relatively easy start to the campaign as a reason for their early season success. But victories over Chelsea at home and RB Leipzig away showed that they aren’t just flat-track bullies.
The setback against Nottingham Forest in September remains the only blemish on an otherwise perfect record at the club for Slot, who has achieved the best beginning to a managerial reign in the Reds’ history.
He has some selection headaches of the positive kind, with Curtis Jones, the match-winner against Chelsea, eyeing a regular place in the XI. It is also not an easy choice between Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo on the left of the front three, while Diogo Jota’s injury means Darwin Nunez will get a deserved start up front.
There is invariably plenty of entertainment when Arsenal and Liverpool lock horns. Both teams have scored in each of their last four league meetings, and the Gunners are unbeaten against the Merseyside outfit during that time.
Arsenal have not won a top-flight match at Anfield since 2012, but they came out on top in north London both last season and the year before, scoring three on each occasion. The Reds did knock Arteta’s side out of the FA Cup at the Emirates in 2023-24, though.
Jota will be a big miss for Liverpool on Sunday. He has netted seven times for them against the Gunners, with the first of those efforts coming on his Reds debut.
No Liverpool match under Slot in the Premier League has seen more than three goals, while three of Arsenal’s last four have gone over 3.5.
History suggests this could be a thriller, but perhaps this particular clash of styles won’t allow for it.
Due to Arsenal’s long list of absentees, Liverpool will go off at a shorter price to win at the Emirates than they did last season. The match odds look fair, but there looks to be value in backing Mohamed Salah to have a shot on target, and Dominik Szoboszlai to register a shot.
Normally I would be hesitant to back player shots when the team in question is faced with a difficult away fixture. But Arsenal have conceded the seventh-most shots in the league this season, and while that is largely skewed by games in which they went down to 10 men, they have not been impenetrable at 11 vs 11 either.
Liverpool’s team shots line is set at 12.5, and Salah will surely be heavily involved against possibly a second or third-choice left-back. The Egyptian has hit the target in all of his appearances under Slot, and he should get into positions to keep up that streak.
Szoboszlai is on a similar run, having had an attempt in every fixture in 2024-25. He has been operating as the Reds’ most advanced midfielder in this setup and loves to make runs into the box.
Those two selections in a bet builder creates an appealing price for this Super Sunday blockbuster.
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