Liverpool and Arsenal meet at Anfield in the first top-flight meeting of the 2025-26 season. Predicting a winner feels difficult; instead the tie may come down to isolated battles across the pitch.<\/p>\n
Mohamed Salah remains a clear attacking threat against Arsenal, having scored 11 goals and provided four assists in 18 meetings with the Gunners. He has scored against them in every season since joining Liverpool and, although he has not produced a scintillating start to this campaign, he has still recorded a goal and an assist in wins over Bournemouth and Newcastle United. Riccardo Calafiori, who has a goal and two assists from left back already this season, will have to temper an occasionally overaggressive approach. If Calafiori can stay patient and use his physicality without diving in, he may be able to limit Salah\u2019s creativity; the 33-year-old\u2019s intelligence and left foot remain potent even if he has lost some speed and punch.<\/p>\n
Florian Wirtz, Liverpool\u2019s record signing at \u00a3116 million, has underwhelmed in his first two Premier League matches and will be expected to provide a stronger attacking midfield presence. Wirtz thrives in pockets around the penalty area but has struggled with the physicality of the Premier League and has been dispossessed too easily. Mart\u00edn Zubimendi, who rejected a move to Liverpool last summer, will be tasked with slowing Wirtz alongside Declan Rice. The industrious Spaniard is expected to cover ground, snuff out danger and dictate tempo; an encouraging start to his Arsenal career suggests he could prevail in this battle.<\/p>\n
Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 has endured a poor start, appearing uncertain against Bournemouth and at St James\u2019 Park, and he will face Viktor Gy\u00f6keres, a quick, powerful forward who can dart in behind high lines. Gy\u00f6keres responded to criticism after his debut by scoring twice against Leeds United, including an exquisite run and finish. If Konat\u00e9\u2019s positioning and decision-making remain flawed, he could be exposed.<\/p>\n
Milos Kerkez has displaced Andy Robertson at left back but produced a dire home debut against Bournemouth and a mixed showing against Newcastle. He avoids Bukayo Saka this weekend through injury but will likely face Noni Madueke, who has the trickery and speed to exploit Kerkez\u2019s overzealous moments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Four tactical duels at Anfield could decide Liverpool v Arsenal in the opening match of 2025-26. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,175,172],"tags":[253,206,409],"class_list":["post-2293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-liverpool","category-epl","tag-declan-rice","tag-florian-wirtz","tag-ibrahima-konate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}