We aim to clinch an eighth-straight Premier League win when we head to Merseyside to take on Liverpool on Sunday, as well as end a 10-year wait for a victory at Anfield in the process.
You have to go back to September 2012 for our last success when Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla found the target, but we now have an opportunity to complete our first league double over the Reds since 2009/10, with Jurgen Klopp’s team winless in four games since thrashing Manchester United 7-0.
Those all came on their travels though, and their record at Anfield is a different story. The Reds have won five of their last six league home games and haven’t conceded on their own patch in the league since December, as last season’s finalists Champions League finalists target a late dash for qualification next season.
Liverpool losing ground
It is incredible to think that Liverpool haven’t broken into the top four all season, largely thanks to a slow start that saw them win just two of their opening eight games. However they began to hit form either side of the World Cup, winning six of their next eight to leave them in sixth position going into 2023.
A poor run of form in January saw them slip behind their rivals again and drop as low as 10th, but victories over Everton Newcastle and Manchester United again looked to have turned a corner, especially given the emphatic manner of the now-famous obliteration of their north-west rivals.
But after a Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid, Bournemouth beat them 1-0 before Manchester City took them apart by a 4-1 scoreline last week, while Tuesday’s goalless draw at Chelsea saw all momentum dry up, leaving them languishing in eighth spot going into this weekend, 10 points off the Champions League spots.
What the managers say
Arteta on Liverpool: "I have more admiration [for them] because it shows the difficulty of being at the top and transforming a football club, their identity, their beliefs and their competitive capacity for the last six or seven years. It shows how difficult it is to maintain and sustain that level.
"We all have difficult moments but especially with what they've done at the club, I think it's something remarkable." - read every word of Arteta's press conference
Klopp on us: "Mikel has been building this team for a few years now and obviously the outcome is pretty impressive. The way they play is fun to watch, to be honest: it's super-lively, really good football, top players on the pitch, good match plans."
Team news
In his pre-match press conference, Arteta did not provide an update on William Saliba or Eddie Nketiah's injuries, stating: "There are no real changes with the rest of the players who were still injured. We have some hope with one of them tomorrow - maybe he's able to train."
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny (both knee) will be out for the remainder of the campaign.
Thiago has returned to training after a hip injury and could feature, and he has been joined by Luis Diaz who has been missing since our 3-2 win in October, but Klopp believes he won’t be available for another week or so.
Naby Keita and Stefan Bajcetic could be missing for the rest of the season.
Facts and stats
We have won our last seven Premier League games, scoring at least three times in six of those including the last five. Only once in our league history have we ever won six in a row while scoring 3+ goals each time, doing so in September/October 1903 while in the second tier.
Leandro Trossard scored a hat-trick for Brighton away at Liverpool earlier this season. No player has ever scored for two different away sides at Anfield in a single campaign.
We have kept a clean sheet in just 20 per cent of our Premier League games against Liverpool (12/61), our lowest ratio in the competition. We have also failed to score in more different Premier League games against Liverpool than any other opponent (20).
This is the ninth time we go into a game against Liverpool top of the Premier League (W3 D3 L2), with the previous eight producing a total of 33 goals.
Liverpool haven't conceded in their last seven hours and 26 minutes of league football at Anfield, since Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's strike for Leicester in December.
Mohamed Salah is looking to score in four consecutive home league appearances for the first time since a six-game run between January and June 2020. He’s had a hand in seven goals in five appearances against us at Anfield (5 goals, 2 assists).
Jurgen Klopp has won his last six home Premier League matches against us. The last manager to win seven consecutive home English top-flight games at our expense was John Nicholson between 1921 and 1928 with Sheffield United.
Aaron Ramsdale has kept nine clean sheets away from home in the Premier League this season. Only two keepers have recorded 10+ shutouts on the road in a single campaign – Petr Cech (11 in 2004/05, 10 in 2008/09) and Ederson (11 in 2018/19, 10 in 2021/22).
Match officials
Paul Tierney is the man in the middle for this encounter, who has overseen two of our three league defeats this term - the losses at Manchester United and Manchester City.
In fact, we have lost each of the last five games he has taken charge of, after defeats last season to Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Tottenham. Meanwhile, of the five Liverpool appointments he has had this term, the Reds have won just twice under his watch.
- Referee: Paul Tierney
- Assistant Referee 1: Constantine Hatzidakis
- Assistant Referee 2: Scott Ledger
- Fourth Official: Craig Pawson
- VAR: Chris Kavanagh
- Assistant VAR: Adam Nunn
Recent trips to Anfield
Despite holding a special place in Gooners’ hearts thanks to the events of 1989, in recent history the red half of Merseyside hasn't been a happy hunting ground for us. The Reds have won their last six home Premier League matches against us, scoring at least three times in each game.
However, our last trip there brought a goalless draw in the League Cup semi-final despite us seeing Granit Xhaka sent off after just 24 minutes, but we fell to a 4-0 loss earlier in the campaign when Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Takumi Minamino netted.
Another 0-0 League Cup draw came in October 2020 as we advanced 5-4 on penalties, helping to avenge a 3-1 defeat just three days earlier, and the previous season again saw us heading to Anfield in the League Cup which brought about a crazy 5-5 draw before Klopp’s team emerged victorious on spot-kicks.
Take a look at some of our best away days at Liverpool in our playlist of classic games
Breakdown Live
Nick Bright and Adrian Clarke will be live on Arsenal.com and the official app from Emirates Stadium starting at 3.30pm (UK time) to provide the best pre-match coverage for any Gooner.
They will look back on two huge victories against Manchester City for our sides in the Women’s Super League and the FA Youth Cup, while Adrian will analyse a fantastic March for our men’s Player of the Month Leandro Trossard.
They'll also look at the midfield battle at Anfield and identify the key periods of the match that’ll be vital for taking all three points, before handing over to Dan Roebuck and Josh James on commentary, who will provide all the details about what is unfolding on the pitch throughout the 90 minutes.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
