Liverpool lost their first match of this Premier League campaign before the international break, losing 3-2 to an in form West Ham side thanks to goals from Angelo Ogbonna, Pablo Fornals and Kurt Zouma that cancelled out Trent Alexander Arnold's sublime free kick and Divock Origi's late revival attempt. 

Arsenal looked nervy in their match against a Watford side who felt like they had a point to prove. Bukayo Saka's goal was disallowed in the first seven minutes after being marginally offside and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's penalty was saved by Ben Foster after former Spurs man Danny Rose collided into Alex Lacazette. Foster made a flurry of great saves but was eventually beaten by a controversial goal by Arsenal & now England's Emile Smith Rowe

Both Liverpool and Arsenal had players out on international duty with Mohamed Elneny and Mohamed Salah linking up with Egypt to qualify for the World Cup, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Aaron Ramsdale all starting in a 10-0 win against San Marino and Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson featuring for Scotland together. 

Arsenal lie two points behind Liverpool in fifth and a win for the Gunners would take them above The Reds and potentially level on points with West Ham in third if they drop points to Wolves at the Molineux

Previous Meeting:

The last time the two clubs met was a breeze for Liverpool, who had twenty-one shots compared to Arsenal's four. Alex Lacazette continued his great goalscoring record against Liverpool in the 25th minute but Sadio Mane equalised only three minutes later. Andy Robertson added six minutes later and the game was put to bed with Diogo Jota getting on the goalsheet in the 88th minute. 

Team News- Arsenal

Mikel Arteta should be boosted by the returning Thomas Partey, who pulled out of international duty with Ghana and is back for selection. 

Folarin Balogun, who scored for the England U21s mid week, is also available if needed upon from the bench. 

Granit Xhaka is making good progress and could be returning very soon but is not ready for Liverpool this weekend along with Bosnian left back Sead Kolasinac who faced a horror red card tackle while on international duty which needed him taken off on a stretcher. 

Team News- Liverpool

A team that have been struggling with injuries will be struggling even more with Jordan Henderson facing a late test to determine whether he will be available for selection.

Klopp confirmed that Mane and Robertson would be available Friday morning, despite Robertson being taken off with injuries during the week for Scotland. 

The Reds are without Harvey Elliott, Naby Keita, Curtis Jones, James Milner, Joe Gomez and Roberto Firmino who are all sidelined with injuries. 

However, the Brazilian boys will be back and Alisson & Fabinho are expected to slide right into the starting XI after a bit of media speculation previously regarding travels back from Brazil. This means Gabriel Magalhaes for Arsenal is back as well. 

Predicted Lineups:

Liverpool: Alisson, Robertson, Matip, Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Thiago, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jota, Mane, Salah

Arsenal: Ramsdale, Tierney, Gabriel, White, Tomiyasu, Partey, Lokonga, Saka, Smith Rowe, Lacazette, Aubameyang

When and where to watch:

The match is being played at Anfield at 5:30pm UK time on Saturday evening, and is being broadcasted on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League. Sky customers can live stream the game also via the Sky Go App. If you are unable to do that, you can alternatively follow Arsenal VAVEL and Liverpool VAVEL for a warm down and match analysis post match. 

 

 

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