LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 20: Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal battles with Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool during the Carabao Cup Semi Final Second Leg match between Arsenal and Liverpool at Emirates Stadium on January 20, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)Preview
On Sunday in north London, there will be a major Premier League matchup between Arsenal and Liverpool.
With a fantastic north London derby victory over Tottenham last weekend and a convincing victory over Norwegian minnows Bodo/Glimt on Thursday, the assured Gunners are in excellent form and sit atop the league heading into the weekend.
As defending champions, Manchester City, who are currently in second place, host mediocre Southampton on Saturday, Arsenal will likely have dropped to second place by the time they play Liverpool. Mikel Arteta’s high-flying team will be eager to quickly re-establish their authority with another decisive victory.
While Mikel Arteta’s men have been nearly flawless and are currently top of the table, Jurgen Klopp’s men have suffered draws and defeats, languishing at ninth in the table. On the other hand, Arsenal has only suffered one loss this season to Manchester United and is the only thing between Manchester City and the top spot.
Form Guide: Arsenal
Mikel Arteta’s side is looking to record their eighth win from nine league matches this season against a Liverpool team who have struggled to gain momentum so far. Arsenal is spectacular this season. They have nine wins and one draw in ten matches in all competitions. Also, Mikel Arteta’s team won the last four games in a row. On Thursday, Arsenal won 3-0 at home against Bodo/Glimt. The home side had 18 shots on in that game, while the guest had only eight, so it is no wonder that Arsenal secured another victory.
Arsenal is brilliant at the home stadium. They have five wins from five matches with a 14:5 goal difference. A 3-1 win in the North London derby last time out extended Arsenal’s run of PL games without a clean sheet to 13, suggesting that they may need to dig deep and grab a handful of goals if they are to get the better of this highly talented Liverpool side.
Form Guide: Liverpool
The Reds’ season got off to a shaky start in the first few months of the current campaign. Only two of Jurgen Klopp’s team’s seven Premier League wins have come by way of victory, and they have gone two games without one.
Liverpool had defeated Ajax and Napoli in consecutive Champions League matches after losing their first game 4-1 to Napoli. Despite this, there are still several issues with the squad in particular.
In the league, the team has only won two games while losing four and drawing four. Liverpool’s season-long struggles were perfectly shown in their recent game against Brighton. In the latter moments of the game, Klopp’s team let up a goal and dropped three points. Liverpool’s season is yet to achieve any sort of lift-off and they are likely out of the title picture already, with a difficult start to the season.
A 2-0 win over Rangers in midweek added to a victory over Ajax means their Champions League campaign is at least now back on track, although they have so much work to do domestically.
How the game could go
Liverpool is struggling at the moment. The performance against Brighton didn’t surprise anyone because they look like a different team this season. There have been warning signs all season.
“They look weaker without Mane. At the back, they have been poor. Alexander-Arnold is struggling. The problem with Liverpool is that almost every goal is coming from Alexander-Arnold’s side of the pitch.
I think it would be a big disappointment if Arsenal fails to beat Liverpool at the Emirates, especially after their victory against Tottenham. When you see the performances of Liverpool this season, at the weekend against Brighton, it is a great opportunity to beat them.
Considering they’ve already dropped a lot of points against sides outside the traditional ‘Big Six’ this season, it means they’re going to have to start taking points from the big hitters at some point and on their current form it’s hard to envisage them doing that.
Betting Predictions
Arsenal to Win
Currently second-best in the league to Manchester City, Arsenal appears to be the only team capable of posing a genuine threat to Guardiola’s team. Arsenal doesn’t have the best of records against Liverpool in recent seasons, winning just one and losing four of the pair’s last six meetings in all competitions. However, the Gunners are the form team in the Premier League right now and top the table ahead of Man City by a point. Arteta’s men are playing with more fluidity and more confidence this season and look like they could catch Liverpool at a good time with Klopp’s men drawn in their last two league games. Bet9ja have 2.60, 1xbet have 2.61 and Paripesa have 2.61 odds.
BTTS (YES)
Arsenal is positively purring with confidence at the moment, having bounced back from their only blip of the season at Old Trafford – a game in which they also performed well – in emphatic style. Arsenal is without a league clean sheet in March and will likely concede again here, we are sure of both sides scoring here today as they have been good going forward in recent weeks. H2H records do not support this but we see a change in the trend here today. Bet9ja have 1.48 odds, Paripesa have 1.50, and 1xbet have 1.50 odds.
Anytime Goalscorer (Arsenal)
Gabriel Jesus
Jesus has arguably been the star of the Arsenal team this season, chipping in with 5-goals in the Premier League alone. If Arsenal plays to their best again this weekend, they will be in with a great chance of beating Liverpool and keeping their hold on the top spot, and we’re backing Jesus to score against the Merseysiders in what should be a cracking game of football this Sunday. Bet9ja have 2.90 odds for him to score while Paripesa have 2.62.
Bukoya Saka
He sure has had an underwhelming start to the season to be fair. But his quality cannot be disregarded as we saw in the Tottenham game last weekend. looked very much back to his best at the Emirates and gave Spurs a torrid time. He is likely to follow up that impressive performance with a nice outing against this leaky Liverpool defense. Bet9ja have 4.50 odds for him to score while Paripesa have 4.00.
Anytime Goalscorer (Manchester United)
Salah
It is presently challenging to find a player for Liverpool who is reliable. Mo Salah falls into that category managing only 2 goals in his first 9 PL fixtures and 5 in total for the team this season. It is a poor return for him as we know he can provide more quality to the attack. He has now scored four goals in his last four games for club and country, helping him to a better goalscoring run. He seems to have found his feet and now scoring. Bet9ja have 2.95 odds for him to score while Paripesa have 2.62.
Firminho
The Brazilian forward has surprised everyone this season, with five goals, the striker leads the team in scoring and appears to be Klopp’s deadliest forward at the moment. We are sure of his quality and his ability to step up in challenging situations for the club. Arsenal fans also dread his sight as he has punished them a lot in the past, and has scored more goals against Arsenal than any other PL opponent (nine). He is also just one goal away from becoming the highest scorer in this PL fixture. Bet9ja have 3.70 odds for him to score while Paripesa have 2.80.
Football Lover. All-round junkie of the beautiful game. Could be found watching football most of the time. If not he’s writing about them or making some punditry you don’t agree with. A certain bias for Arsenal and Santos FC.
