Last season’s top two meet at the Emirates tonight, but this has been a very different campaign for Arsenal and Liverpool.
Liverpool finished 10 points clear of Arsenal last season but have dropped off since the autumn, leaving Arne Slot’s side 14 points behind Mikel Arteta’s rock-solid side after 20 matches.
What has changed so much since last season at both clubs? How will Slot and Arteta approach the game? And who are the key players?
Arsenal writer Amy Lawrence and her Liverpool counterpart Andy Jones preview the talking points.
What is the biggest change at your club this season compared with last?
Amy: An uptick in squad depth and squad mentality is helping Arsenal push themselves over some of the hurdles that tripped them up last term. At times last season, Arteta had to be creative to put out a balanced team, developing new positions for players to cope with the absences. This time, there is more choice. They look stronger. They share the load and lean into those tiny variables that can be the difference in a game.
Having more quality across the squad means they are less hampered by multiple injuries (and they have had plenty). Others are stepping in, and it is only in the toughest encounters where the absence of a main choice is keenly felt. Arteta is still working out how to use everyone to the best level and find the most effective blends, and there is still scope for this team to improve in the second half of the season.
Summer investment has allowed Arsenal to cope with injuries this season (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Andy: The easier question would be what hasn’t changed!
After winning the Premier League title last season, Liverpool embarked on a summer of change, reshaping their first-team squad with an outlay of nearly £450million ($600m) on new players and more than £200million brought in through sales. Out went Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez and in came Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, among others.
There was an expectation that it would take time to gel, but nobody foresaw what was to come. Their title defence was in tatters after a run of six defeats in seven league games. The system that worked last season fell apart. You can count on one hand the number of players who have performed consistently well during the first half of the campaign. New and old members of the squad were struggling.
Their set-piece defending has dropped off a cliff and the situation has led Slot to make a stylistic switch to stop the bleeding. That has helped, but Liverpool remain a shadow of the team that dominated the league last season.
How do you expect your club’s manager to approach this game tactically?
Amy: Arteta has repeatedly pointed out how his team finds different ways to win a game. Their set-piece mastery is well documented. Own goals did them a few favours during the winter period. They still like a neat passing move, but also have become braver at cracking in shots from outside the box. They have had some games where they have dug in to defend a narrow lead, others where they have been expansive and gone for the jugular.
Title challengers often have a very defined style, and getting into that groove can be very reassuring when the pressure heats up. Arsenal have shown plenty of variety this season, so it will be interesting if they keep that up or click into a more focused rhythm.
Mikel Arteta has built an adaptable squad at Arsenal (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Andy: Slot’s safety-first, low-event approach will continue to be the plan, which is more acceptable for a trip to the Emirates than against other opposition.
During this nine-game unbeaten run, the head coach’s tweaks have made them more compact defensively but limited their attacking threat. Enforced absences in the front line have not helped.
The blueprint against Arsenal is likely to be similar to Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Inter last month. In a tough away trip to an inform side, Slot’s side limited the opposition to few chances and took theirs when it arrived via a penalty.
Arsenal will have more of the ball, opening the door for Liverpool to play on the counter-attack, but the options available to Slot lack pace, especially if Hugo Ekitike is absent.
Open-play events may be inconsequential if Liverpool’s set-piece defending remains woeful. Excluding penalties, they have conceded 13 goals from set pieces this season. Set-piece coach Aaron Briggs has left and they’re up against the country’s elite.
Arne Slot is expected to maintain his cautious approach at the Emirates (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
How do the fanbases feel about the opposition?
Amy: There is always a danger in sweeping statements about any group of supporters. Getting agreement of 100 fans on any given subject is unlikely enough, so trying to present a unified front from the millions globally who follow a big Premier League club is only just about workable with very obvious rivals.
Arsenal versus Liverpool has been a loaded game for many decades, bringing together two of English football’s most storied clubs, pitting a northern powerhouse against the most successful institution from the south.
In more recent times, these clubs’ self-sustaining approach unites them in this oligarch/petrostate-owned era of Premier League football. There will always be petty one-upmanship between top teams, but underneath it all, there should be mutual respect for how these two clubs endeavour in a period when sporting integrity is too often subservient to the manner some of the richest clubs flex their muscles, and end up with charges or investigations because of it. Liverpool have done what Arsenal want to do in winning the biggest trophies in this era and proving it can be done.
Andy: Amy sums it up really well, and there is a respect from Liverpool supporters about Arsenal’s consistency to challenge for the title in recent years because they know firsthand the toll it can take. It is becoming clearer by the week that it will be Arsenal who take their crown.
Supporters took great pleasure in mocking Arsenal in the 2-2 draw at Anfield last season after the title had been clinched — including a banner about Arteta that read “Always the bridesmaid, never the bride” as his team were set to finish second for the third consecutive season.
Arteta doesn’t have too many friends among Liverpool supporters, dating back to the 2021 game at Anfield when he clashed with Jurgen Klopp, the manager at the time. Some of his comments at the back end of last season didn’t go down too well either, but ultimately on the pitch, should he win the league title, there is and will be an appreciation of the job he has done as Liverpool fans have experience of being in the position Arsenal were in when Arteta arrived.
Liverpool fans during the 2-2 draw in May last season (Peter Powell/AFP via Getty Images)
Who do you see as the key players?
Amy: Arsenal’s collective efforts make it almost impossible to pick a main man — one match, it is the colossal influence of Gabriel; another, Declan Rice runs the show. Leandro Trossard has been a game-changer so consistently this season. Martin Odegaard has hit form to exert his influence recently. Ease off Bukayo Saka at your peril. And behind the rest of them, David Raya has been producing epic saves recently. The key is the team and its willpower.
Arsenal have mislaid their early-season habit of clean sheets, so they will be mindful of the dangers of a Liverpool player who fancies a crack at goal. Ekitike could be important for them if he is fit, and Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai are capable in that department as well.
Andy: Usually, this is where you pick an attacker, but given where Liverpool are and the likely pattern of the game, it is between goalkeeper Alisson and centre-back Virgil van Dijk. Leadership and discipline will be crucial and they bring that in abundance. Ekitike is a major doubt, so they will need others, particularly Florian Wirtz, to carry the attacking threat.
I had to stop reading Amy’s list of Arsenal’s key players halfway through, as it was making me fear the game even more. Arteta has spent a lot of money, but used it wisely to build an excellent squad with very few weaknesses. Their most important player seems to be Rice, who looks to have gone to another level this season and has been so instrumental.
Declan Rice has been one of the standouts for Arsenal (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Match prediction?
Amy: Anything other than three points will be a significant disappointment to Arsenal. That is not to underestimate the champions, who may not be at their best but still possess more than enough individual quality to do damage. But the position Arsenal are in, they know how deeply they have to strive for every win. It still nags that they lost the reverse fixture early in the season, a match that tilted on fine margins and a moment of inspiration from Dominik Szoboszlai. Arsenal’s players will be hellbent on making sure it is one (or more) of them that makes the difference this time round.
Andy: This is going to be incredibly tough for Slot’s side. If they perform like they did in the 3-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium against Manchester City, they are in trouble. If they reproduce what they did at the San Siro against Inter, they have a chance. My head says Arsenal win 2-0, my heart says 1-1.
One thing is a guarantee — I’ll be spending the 90 minutes watching from behind the couch.