Arsenal vs Liverpool. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

Arsenal FC will host Liverpool FC in the English Premier League 23rd round match at the Emirates Stadium. The fixture will take place on Sunday, February 4, beginning at 22:00 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Arsenal News & Current Form: 

Less than a month has passed since the last meeting between Liverpool and Arsenal. Then the top clubs of the EPL met in the Emirates FA Cup and already at the stage of 1/32 the Reds cut short the path of the Gunners. Moreover, they did it being on the road. 

Klopp’s men played the first half in defense, but Arsenal failed to score. And then came the pay-off – the Liverpool players had more energy left for the end, who first forced Jakub Kiwior to cut the ball into his own net in the 80th minute, and then finished off with a stunning strike from Luis Diaz – 2:0. 

But even more symbolic is the fact that two weeks before the cup match these two teams played in the Premier League. In other words, in the span of a month and a half three face-to-face matches were played. In the championship, they parted in peace – 1:1, a quick goal by Gabriel Magalhães was answered by Mohamed Salah, and the attack did not come up with more. 

At that time, the wards of Mikel Arteta were the leaders of the EPL, and Liverpool came to visit them. In a month and a half the situation has changed, and now the Reds are leading, and the Londoners are catching up and traveling to visit.

The clubs have such a busy schedule that there is no time to rest. But last weekend, Arsenal had time to prepare after being knocked out of the Cup. Arsenal had a much easier opponent in midweek. Nottingham Forest FC fought back but conceded two goals in the second half. In addition, the winners had a day more to prepare.

Best player of Arsenal in terms of offense – Bukayo Saka with 7 goals scored and 7 assists

Despite the game crisis that befell Arsenal at the end of last year, the team remain in the list of contenders for the EPL title this season. After a series of failures, Mikel Arteta’s wards also managed to defeat Crystal Palace FC (5:0), which allowed the Londoners to remain in third place in the standings with a conditional gap from the second Manchester City, who played one match less.

Arsenal have the second most reliable defense in the league (21 goals conceded) behind the league leader (19). The upcoming hosts have also scored twice as often as they conceded – they have 44 effective shots. Aston Villa FC and Newcastle United FC have scored the same amount – the third highest in the league.

In the UEFA Champions League, the Londoners finished top of the group with PSV Eindhoven, RC Lens and Sevilla FC. They scored 16 goals in six matches, but still lost once to the French club (1:2).

The whole team is dangerous in attack. Bukayo Saka has seven goals, Eddie Nketiah has five, and five other players have four goals each. Saka is also the brightest ball dispatcher, with seven assists to his account. 

But Arteta has a few losses: Japan’s Takehiro Tomiyasu is deployed at the AFC Asian Cup, while Mohamed Elneny has just returned from the Africa Cup of Nations after Egypt’s exit. In addition, Thomas Partey and Fabio Viera are injured.

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Liverpool News & Current Form: 

Liverpool have a four-game winning streak in the EPL. After the shocking announcement by Jurgen Klopp, who said he would leave the team next summer, the Reds easily defeated Chelsea FC (4:1) at home, preventing the Citizens from closing the gap in the championship race. In the Premier League, the Merseysiders have conceded the least (19), and scored, on the contrary, more than all opponents except Man City – they are on par (51 each).

Top scorer of Liverpool Mohamed Salah got a serious injury while playing for the national team of Egypt

The Reds top the EPL table – their first and last defeat happened back in September. They not only knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup – Klopp’s boys reached the League Cup final to take on Chelsea. In the UEFA Europa League, Liverpool won the group with Toulouse FC, FC Union Berlin and LASK, scoring 17 goals in six rounds.

The team’s top scorer is Mohamed Salah. He distinguished himself 14 times and helped his teammates to score eight more times. But the Egyptian is unavailable for the next match – the forward was injured playing for the national team at the Africa Cup of Nations. Together with him, two other core players – Konstantinos Tsimikas, Joel Matip and Thiago – are on sick leave.

When asked about the reason of his decision, Jurgen Klopp answered:

“I will be leaving the club at the end of the season. I realize it’s a shock to a lot of people when you hear it for the first time, but obviously I can explain it – or at least try to explain it. I love absolutely everything about this club, I love everything about the city, I love everything about our fans, I love the team, I love the staff. I love everything.”

“But the fact that I did make this decision shows that I am convinced that this is the decision I have to make. The fact is that I am, how shall I put it, running out of energy. I don’t have any problems right now, of course I’ve known for a long time that I would have to announce this at some point, but I’m perfectly fine now. I know I can’t do this job over and over and over and over again.”

“After all the years we’ve spent together, after all the time we’ve spent together, and after all we’ve been through together, respect for you has grown, love for you has grown, and the least I have to do is tell you the truth – and here it is. That’s it, pretty much.”

Arsenal form guide: D-L-L-L-W-W

Liverpool form guide: W-W-W-D-W-W-

Arsenal vs Liverpool Head-To-Head Record:

• April 9, 2023: Liverpool 2 – 2 Arsenal (Premier League);
• December 23, 2023: Liverpool 1 – 1 Arsenal (Premier League);
• January 7,2024: Arsenal 0 – 2 Liverpool (FA Cup).

Arsenal vs Liverpool Predicted XI:

Arsenal’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.

Liverpool’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Jones, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Jota, Gakpo, Diaz.

Statistical preview of the match Arsenal vs Liverpool:

• Arsenal’s First XI average age is 25.2 years, Liverpool’s First XI average age is 26.5 years.
• The total value of Arsenal’s squad  is 1.12 bln euros, while the total of Liverpool comes up to 868 mln euros.
• Anthony Taylor has been appointed as the center referee. The referee has already served 27 games this season, showing an average of 4.8 Yellow Cards and also whistles 21 fouls per game. 
• Liverpool have not lost in 8 of their last 10 matches against this opponent.
• Arsenal have not lost in 9 of their last 10 matches at home in the Premier League.
• In the last 5 games Liverpool conceded an average of 1.00 goals per game and scored an average of 3.20 goals per game.
• In the last 5 games, Arsenal conceded an average of 1.40 goals per game and scored an average of 1.60 goals per game.

What has been said before the match:

Gaffer of the Gunners, Mikel Arteta, about gaining the momentum, beating big teams  and showing better results than last season:

“What we need to do is play the way we played in the last two games against them, and be more efficient in the areas that are going to decide the game. This season, we have beaten big teams already and it’s another opportunity to beat Liverpool now and be in a much better place.”

“I’m very excited, it’s always great to prepare a game against Liverpool; how good they are, they dominate every aspect of the game. We play at home, and what I sense is a real sense of positivity and enthusiasm around the place.”

“Obviously, we had some big experiences and what we did last season was another big step. This year, what we’re trying to do is something even better, and we are in the Champions League as well, which is a big step, and yeah, the squad is better.

“We talk about momentum; we’ve won the last two games and want to win the third one, especially at home with our people. It’s going to be an incredible atmosphere, and we’re going to need that, so I encourage everybody to do that, to play every single ball with us, and if we do that, we’re going to have a big chance to win the game.”

Jurgen Klopp about the Premier League’s title race this season:

“I think what we learned over the years is if you want to be around Manchester City then you better win all your football games because they do. That’s all. This is the league, this is the time where City is dominating, that’s how it is. They play incredible stuff and would probably consider themselves not playing their very best season but are where they are.”

“We are having a very good season and are at the moment two points ahead of City, and they are two points behind us, which is really interesting. We could discuss that or we don’t do it and just take it like it is and go from here and try to play the best season we can play. And when we face them, we want to beat them. In the other games we don’t have anything to do with them. That’s the thing.”

“Arsenal, they beat us, they are definitely there. If they don’t beat us, then ask them or other people, I don’t know what that means. But there are so many games to come and we always judge the moment and then it’s like, by the way, you play there, there, there. You can lose all these games unfortunately, that’s how it is.”

“You can win them as well, that’s cool, but you could lose them as well and then you lose key players in absolutely the wrong moments. We all have to get through this. You ask these questions and you try to get answers, the only problem is that we cannot give the answers – and not only me, we cannot give the answers because we don’t know.”

“But we will try to make it as hard as possible for everyone who wants to finish the season above us. Let’s see if we can do that, it’s just what we want to try.”

Arsenal vs Liverpool Prediction:

Arsenal approach the match with optimism, as the game will be played at the Emirates Stadium with a full house of home fans, who will be there to drive their players forward with all their might. The Gunners have suffered just one defeat in 10 previous meetings on home turf (3rd in the league in this respect after Liverpool and Man City). A two-week pause in January helped the Red and Whites recover from three defeats in a row. Now, Mikel Arteta’s men are on a 2-match winning streak, which boosts confidence in their abilities. It seems that certain missteps and errors have only helped the Spanish mentor and his players to become better, to tweak the necessary aspects. A more focused and cohesive team will come out against the Merseysiders, and they will be looking for revenge after the FA Cup defeat.

Yet Jurgen Klopp’s side also have their own special motivation – the German has already announced that he will leave at the end of the season after nine years at the club. Such a turnaround will surely affect the mood of the players in a showdown with a direct rival for the title. In addition, Liverpool have not lost away in six consecutive matches. 

The opponents look equally powerful and attack-minded. Both coaching staffs have probably studied their opponents to the last detail, know what to expect and what to be ready for. The last matches were evenly contested, with a minimum of chances, nobody wanted to take any risks. They never have scored more than two goals in the 23/24 campaign. And these goals were rather opportunistic: they came either at the start of the match, or in the end, when concentration is lacking. With a tight schedule, we don’t expect any kind of outburst or furious battle. The price of a mistake in this 6-pointer is sky high, nobody wants to lose – Manchester City will take any chance they can get. Arsenal and Liverpool will again show cautious football, waiting and acting on each other’s mistakes. 

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: the match total will be less than 3.5 – Yes.

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