Clash of the Titans: Liverpool V. Arsenal Match Preview & Prediction

As an American, Labor Day weekend is a special time for us. And luckily for myself as a Gooner we always seem to find ourselves with a big matchup during this weekend.

Previewing this matchup, I find myself back in the First Sunday of September 2023, or as I remember it, the introduction of Declan Rice to the North Bank. A stoppage time winner against United, followed by Gabriel Jesus' stunning control to bring it to 3-1 is a memory I will not soon forget. However, this task for Arteta and the boys seems a lot more mighty than that game ever could have been. In this article I will go over some key points for the game on Sunday as well as offering some predictions and musings.

In a league containing such fine margins, this match seems to be the first of the season which could genuinely decide the Premier League Champion come May 2026. Ahead of this match, I see 4 main inflection points; Squad Selection, Squad Depth, Mentality, and Home Field Advantage.

Squad Selection

Squad Selection will be a massively important part of this fixture, with Arsenal battling some tough luck in terms of early season injuries, and Liverpool with a squad that is clearly not complete, with much rumoured Alexander Isak likely to join in the coming weeks.

Liverpool

Liverpool's squad selection seems much more straightforward than Arsenal's.

You can expect a front four of Cody Gakpo, Hugo Ekitike, and Mohamed Salah leading the line, with Florian Wirtz following closely as their number 10.

Their midfield selection could go in a few different directions, but personally, I would expect a double pivot of Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch in the midfield, with Alexis returning to training this week. It would certainly be their strongest selection, but we will see on Sunday if Alexis is truly fit to start. If not, you can likely expect to see Curtis Jones filling in for him in the double pivot.

In the backline, we will surely see Milos Kerkez on the left, and a Central Defensive duo of Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk, with Alisson in net. Right back seems to be the biggest question mark with Jeremie Frimpong's injury. I would expect a more fit Connor Bradley to fill in this position in the starting 11, however, if his injury is more severe than seems, you can expect Dominik Szoboszlai to fill in this position as he did Monday at St. James Park.

Arsenal

With the injuries to Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, Arsenal's squad could go in many different directions ahead of Sunday. We will start this section in opposite order as I did Liverpool's, as Arsenals selection gets more interesting going further up the pitch.

Arteta will definitely select David Raya in goal, and across the back line we will likely see Riccardo Calafiori on the left hand side, the dynamic duo of Gabriel and William Saliba in the centre, and Jurrien Timber on the right. Although this is not the only option Arteta could go with in the back line, I view it to the the most likely. The other players to consider would be Ben White on the right, and Myles-Lewis Skelly on the left, but I would expect Arteta to maintain the same back line as last week against Leeds.

In the midfield, the certainties are Martin Zubimendi as the string-pulling 6, and Declan Rice as the work horse at left sided 8. If Odegaard proves to be fit for Sunday, he will start. There is no other choice. However, if he is not fit, you will see one of two players on the right side of the midfield, Ethan Nwaneri or the new number 1o, Eberechi Eze. In this scenario, I would lean towards Nwaneri, as he has more training in the ins and outs of that position, where Eze is more trained in playing in the midfield from the left.

Now in the attack, this is a true roll of the dice. In my opinion, I expect to see a front 3 of Eze on the left, Viktor Gyokeres in the middle leading the line, and Noni Madueke on the right. There are a few different considerations from there. I feel very confident about Gyokeres and Madueke centrally and right wing respectively. However, if Martin Odegaard is fit, then that opens up the door to Madueke playing on the left, and Ethan Nwaneri filling in the right wing as he did so adeptly last season during Bukayo Saka's injury. On the wings you can expect to see any combination of Eze, Madueke, Martinelli, or Trossard on the left, with Madueke or Nwaneri playing in the right. This level of options on the wings for Arsenal means Arteta's team selection is massively important, with the right combination leading to 3 points and the wrong combination leading to 0 points.

Squad Depth

One of the most important aspects of this fixture for myself is the newfound depth in Arsenals squad provided by new Sporting Director, Andrea Berta. Last season, as injured as the Gunners were, if they had went into the away leg at Anfield without players like Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, the game would have been lost before the team traveled north. However, this season seems different for us. Last week against Leeds, Noni Madueke's confidence and Ethan Nwaneri's maturity showed levels far above what any supporter would have expected. Even missing the two most important players in Arsenal's attack, this game does not seem so cut and dry as it once would have, although Odegaard may well still be fit to start on Sunday.

On the contrary, Liverpool's squad depth seems to have suffered significantly. While chasing a winner last week, in a brilliant and classically beautiful moment only football can produce, Liverpool's 17 year old (at the time he was 16) winger Rio Nguhoma, scored a 100th minute winner at St James Park. However, to my point, that was the only attacker they had left on the bench to bring on at that point in the game.

On the other side of the pitch this Sunday, Arsenal brought on a 15 year old Max Dowman to glide down the pitch against an already defeated Leeds side. No expectations, no disappointment possible, just do your best, kid.

This may be bias, but I'm sure no managers preference is to bring on a teenager while chasing a winner, as it is both a position that is unfair to the player in terms of expectations, as well as there are more refined professionals out there to fill those roles on the transfer market. To be fair to Ngumoha and him alone, he took that massive burden placed upon him by Arne Slot and thrived. Round of applause for him.

It seems as if it's a promising sign of squad depth from an Arsenal perspective that the youth plays in a no expectation environment, whilst Liverpool's youth have to make appearances out of necessity in a tight and hard fought result.

Mentality

This section will be a bit more hypothetical, but I believe what I have seen from Arsenal's side versus Liverpool's side in terms of mentality speak volumes in terms of the mentality of each club going into the fixture.

While Arteta's pre-match pressers were concerned only internally, the pre match pressers from Liverpool seemed to take a different tone:

When one teams leadership is manufacturing a sense of not being let down even before a result begins, that is a massive red flag in my opinion.

Home Field Advantage

This is Anfield. I really don't need to write anything else. A fortress, always hard to get even a point at this ground. Expect Arsenal to have a hard time playing their way, as we saw at Old Trafford two weeks ago.

Final Musings

Here, I am about to sound very bias. I think Arsenal win this match.

Even with the injuries, you heard it from the main man Arne Slot himself, they've been having trouble defending set pieces this year, Arsenal's bread and butter. Anfield's energy should give Liverpool a goal if not two, but in my opinion, Arsenals defensive prowess keeps them to only one.

Gabriel opens the scoring from a set piece. Ekitike equalises with a well worked move. Saliba scores the winner from a corner delivered by Declan Rice in the 80th minute, where the visitors spend the rest of the game defending with all of their hearts.

Final Score: Liverpool 1 - 2 Arsenal