Thursday\u2019s meeting between Arsenal and Liverpool is the season\u2019s second encounter between two title contenders. Liverpool\u2019s narrow win over Arsenal in August felt like a statement; now the midweek affair arrives with Arsenal aiming to maintain their unbeaten home record and Liverpool trying to avoid embarrassment.<\/p>\n
There are clear reasons Arsenal start as favourites. Nobody has beaten the Gunners on home soil this season and Arsenal\u2019s momentum has been reinforced by summer recruitment. Liverpool\u2019s squad, meanwhile, arrived after an extraordinary \u00a3446 million summer spend but remains inconsistent.<\/p>\n
Left-back: Bukayo Saka v Milos Kerkez<\/p>\n
Few arrivals have disappointed as much as Milos Kerkez. Tipped as the heir to Andy Robertson, the 22-year-old has produced erratic performances and his outing against Arsenal in August stands out as one of his best. Saka has not exploded for truly elite numbers this season \u2014 four goals and three assists \u2014 but his speed and technique still present a significant threat. With Jurri\u00ebn Timber providing overlap, Arsenal\u2019s right flank could expose Kerkez\u2019s aggression and inconsistency in duels.<\/p>\n
Midfield: Declan Rice v Ryan Gravenberch<\/p>\n
Declan Rice continues to underline his importance, scoring twice against Bournemouth and matching Saka\u2019s Premier League totals for goals and assists this season. Stopping Rice would be key to unlocking Arsenal, but few have managed it so far. Ryan Gravenberch has faced criticism in a holding role but has contributed six Premier League goal contributions and has been shouldering heavy responsibility. He will need support from Curtis Jones or Alexis Mac Allister to limit Rice and curb Martin \u00d8degaard\u2019s creative influence.<\/p>\n
Attack: Florian Wirtz v Mart\u00edn Zubimendi<\/p>\n
Wirtz\u2019s position may depend on Hugo Ekitik\u00e9\u2019s availability after the French striker missed the draw at Fulham with a minor injury. Even when starting from the left he drifts centrally, as when he scored at Craven Cottage from an inside-right position. Two goals and an assist in the last four matches show improvement, and alongside Ekitik\u00e9 he has been Liverpool\u2019s most reliable attacking outlet of late. Countering him will fall to the defensive midfielder Arsenal pursued in 2024, Mart\u00edn Zubimendi, who has adapted quickly and become a steady presence in the holding role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Three decisive individual clashes – Saka v Kerkez, Rice v Gravenberch, Wirtz v Zubimendi. Preview…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,175,969],"tags":[1023,826,872],"class_list":["post-5842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-liverpool","category-premier-league","tag-alexis-mac-allister","tag-bukayo-saka","tag-cody-gakpo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5842","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=5842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}