Arsenal vs Liverpool: Núñez in doubt and Salah out as Premier League leaders face title rivals – kick-off time, team news and how to follow
Premier League leaders Liverpool travel to the Emirates once again to take on Arsenal in a blockbuster clash this weekend.
The Reds return to north London for the second time this year having knocked the Gunners out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win.
The landscape has changed dramatically since the two teams drew 1-1 in the Premier League reverse fixture on December 23.
That stagnation ensured Mikel ArtetaThe team remained at the top of the table, but a poor festive period has since seen Liverpool skip them.
Jurgen Kloppmen's 4-1 victory Chelseawhich arrived a day later Arsenal defeat Nottingham Forestkept the club five points ahead.
Another victory for Liverpool would leave a big gap with Arsenal in the title race, with city of manchester to take advantage of any slip.
Arsenal vs Liverpool: stick or spin?
Klopp has a big dilemma about what to do at right-back, something he wouldn't have anticipated this time last month.
Liverpool vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold He was a sure bet to instantly return to defense once he recovered from a knee injury.
However, the emergence of Conor Bradley in his absence has made the club's youth teammate almost indispensable.
Alexander-Arnold returned from the bench in Liverpool's win over Norwich last weekend, but still failed to start against Chelsea.
Bradley responded with a goal and two assists in a stellar performance during the 4-1 win over the Blues that gave Klopp a headache.
While it seems incredibly tough to be dropped after such a performance, Alexander-Arnold's record against Arsenal may leave the Reds boss with few options.
Alexander-Arnold has assisted six goals in his last seven Premier League games against Arsenal.
In total, he has provided seven assists in the competition against the Gunners, the most against any opponent and the joint-most of any player against Arsenal (Steven Gerrard also 7).
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- In his five appearances at the Emirates Stadium for Liverpool, Diogo Jota has averaged a goal or assist every 41 minutes in all competitions (5 goals, 2 assists in 287 minutes). In fact, since the start of 2020-21 (his first season with Liverpool), Mohamed Salah (seven at Old Trafford) is the only Premier League player to have scored more away goals in all competitions than the five of Jota at Arsenal.
- Gabriel Martinelli has more goals against Liverpool in all competitions than against any other Arsenal opponent (4 goals, 2 assists). The Brazilian scored the first goal after just 58 seconds in this same match last season, and also assisted Bukayo Saka's goal to give the Gunners a 2-1 lead heading into the break.
- Liverpool beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the FA Cup last month. There have been five occasions where a team has won twice away against the Gunners in the same season, with three of them coming in the last three campaigns (Nottingham Forest 1987-88, Aston Villa 1993-94, Manchester City 2020- 21, Liverpool 2021). -22, Brighton 2022-23).
Arsenal vs Liverpool: team news
Both teams are left without players in the national team, with a Japanese partner Takehiro Tomiyasu and Wataru Endo in the Asia Cup.
Arsenal also have several injury problems, with Fabio Vieira and Jurrien Timber still out, but Thomas Partey is about to return.
The visitors are sweating over Darwin Nunez's fitness after he suffered a foot injury against Chelsea.
Liverpool are already left without a talisman Mohamed Salahwhich heads a list of other absentees.
Kostas Tsimikas, Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak, Joel Matipand Thiago Alcantara Everyone remains in the treatment room.
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- Liverpool have won their last four away games in the Premier League, scoring 10 goals and conceding just one. It's just one win less than they had in their previous 15 away games in the league (W5 D7 L3).
- Arsenal have opened the scoring in their last three Premier League games against Liverpool, doing so within the first 10 minutes of the match each time. The last time they scored first in four consecutive league games against the Reds was between August 1967 and November 1970 (a streak of six).
- Arsenal have picked up five points in their last three Premier League games against Liverpool (W1 D2), as many as in their previous 12 (W1 D2 L9). They are looking to remain unbeaten in four league games against the Reds for the first time since December 2014 and January 2016 (1 win and 3 draws).
Arsenal vs Liverpool: What has been said?
Klopp said: “What we have learned over the years, if you want to be at (Manchester) City, you better win every game. “This is the league, this is the time when City are dominating.
“They play incredible things and would probably consider that they are not having their best season. We have a really good season and some points ahead of us.
“They are having a good season and they are a few points behind, that is really interesting. Arsenal beat us, they are definitely there.
“There are many games to come. We often judge in the moment. You can lose all these games, but you can also win them. You can lose players at key moments.
“We'll try to make it as difficult as possible. Let's see if we can do it.”
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- This will be the 200th league match between Arsenal and Liverpool, the fifth match played so many times in the history of English football. Liverpool have won 79 compared to Arsenal's 66 so far (D54).
- Liverpool have scored in each of their last 16 Premier League games against Arsenal since a goalless draw in August 2015. Overall, they are the only team to have scored more than 100 goals against the Gunners in the competition ( 108).
- Arsenal won this exact match 3-2 last season, last beating Liverpool at home in consecutive Premier League campaigns in 2013-14/2014-15.
Arsenal vs Liverpool: how to follow
This Premier League clash will take place on Sunday, February 4.
The start in the Emirates is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Premier League.
talkSPORT will also have live updates, while talkSPORT.com will also publish a live blog to cover the action.
