The State of Play
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal begin this match day sitting five points behind Liverpool at the top-of-the-table, sitting below Manchester City on goal difference. The Gunners have endured a very difficult run of form in the last couple of months but they do come into this on the back of much-needed victories. They hammered Crystal Palace by five goals to nil a couple of weeks ago before holding off Nottingham Forest with a 2-1 victory at the City Ground in midweek.
Since the announcement that Jurgen Klopp would be departing the club at the end this season, Liverpool have played two games and scored nine goals, hammering Norwich City by five goals to two and Chelsea by four goals to one at Anfield. The Reds are unbeaten in their last 11 matches across all competitions as they seek four trophies this year, one of which being the FA Cup in which they defeated Arsenal by two goals to nil at the Emirates Stadium in the third round, last month.
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Team News
Arsenal are set to remain without Takehiro Tomiyasu, who is away with Japan on international duty, but Mohamed Elneny will return to the squad. As for injuries, the likes of Fabio Vieira and Jurrien Timber remain unavailable.
Liverpool have a concern over the fitness of Darwin Nunez, and although right-back Conor Bradley has been exceptional since coming into the side, it is expected that Trent Alexander-Arnold will replace him in the starting line-up for the trip to the Emirates.
Expected Line-ups
Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Jones; Diogo Jota, Gakpo, Luis Diaz
What they Said
In his post-match comments after their victory over Nottingham Forest, Mikel Arteta said “I’m really happy with the performance and the result. It was still in our tummy, what happened here last year and we wanted to put it right.”
Jurgen Klopp has hinted at a bit of a selection dilemma ahead of their trip to the capital. “Now the next game is coming in four days and I have no idea who can play again because they looked quite knackered when I had a look in the dressing room.”
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at the Emirates Stadium at 16:30 on Sunday February 4th. It will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and can also be streamed via the Sky Go app.
Prediction
Just before Christmas, these two met at Anfield and it looked as though it could have been potentially decisive in the title race and that is the case, once again. If Liverpool were to repeat their victory at the Emirates in the cup from last month then Jurgen Klopp’s men would open up an eight-point lead over Arsenal at the top and over Manchester City, too, but City would have two games in hand. Arsenal, despite defeating Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, have been indifferent since late autumn and a Liverpool win would seem most likely on Sunday afternoon.
