Unai Emery and Jurgen Klopp will meet for the first time in the Premier League on Saturday as Arsenal entertain Liverpool.
Emery will be hoping to celebrate his 47th birthday by seeing his side hand Liverpool their first league defeat, while Klopp’s side will look to pull further away from the Londoners.
To Win
Arsenal 47/20
Draw 28/10
Liverpool 21/20
Arsenal
Arsenal will be looking to return to winning ways against Liverpool on Saturday, but they haven’t beaten the Reds in their last six fixtures. In that run, they suffered three defeats – which came in their last four meetings. The Gunners’ last win over Liverpool came in April 2015 when they ran out 4-1 winners at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal’s 11-match winning run in all competitions came to an end last Sunday as they had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace. That streak had to end sometime but Emery’s side still remain unbeaten in 12 games, at the time of writing, which is an impressive feat.
If Arsenal are to end their unwanted run of six games against Liverpool without a win, Mesut Ozil will need to be at his majestic best. The German playmaker put in a lacklustre performance at Palace last weekend and was clearly 
unhappy about being taken off in the 68th minute, throwing his gloves on the ground. It was a far cry from his stand-out performance against Leicester in the previous league game. Emery will need all his players to be up for it against Liverpool, especially Ozil who is capable of producing moments of brilliance.
According to reports, left-backs Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac are both likely to return to action to take on the Reds, allowing Granit Xhaka to play in his natural midfield position – he’s been used at left-back in Arsenal’s last couple of matches. Emery could also bring back Sokratis Papastathopoulos into the lineup in place of the mistake-prone Shkodran Mustafi. The German defender has been shaky and reckless at times this season and he gave away the first penalty at Palace last weekend with his poor challenge – it wasn’t the first time a big mistake from the German had cost Arsenal.
Emery has proved that he’s not afraid to drop big players and striker Alexandre Lacazette might have to settle for a place on the bench after he put in one of his worst performances in an Arsenal shirt against Palace last Sunday. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is expected to spearhead the attack; the Gabonese striker is joint-top scorer – along with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard – in the Premier League with seven goals.
Liverpool
Liverpool come into this game off a thumping 4-1 victory at home to Cardiff City where Sadio Mane scored twice and Mohamed Salah continued his return to form. That was the second time within a week that Klopp’s side had scored four in a game after a 4-0 win over Red Star Belgrade in the UEFA Champions League.
The Reds are joint-leaders of the Premier League table, along with Manchester City, and unbeaten in 10 matches (despite having faced rivals Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham), winning eight times with 26 points. But their start – and particularly their resilient defence – will be put through another test when they face an Arsenal team unbeaten in 12 games.
Klopp has never lost a meeting with Arsenal as Liverpool manager. In his five fixtures against the Gunners, the Reds have won three times and drawn twice. Last season, the Merseysiders played to a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Emirates Stadium, before recording an emphatic 4-0 victory at Anfield where Roberto Firmino, Mane, Salah and Daniel Sturridge were all on the scoresheet. However, Emery masterminded Sevilla’s Europa League final win over Liverpool in 2016 so Klopp will know how tough it will be facing a team managed by the Spaniard.
Salah has been involved in the most goals for Liverpool in the Premier League this season. Last season’s PFA Player of the Year has rubbished claims that he’s a one-season wonder and has contributed to eight goals, having scored five times with three assists.
In the Reds’ last three games, Salah netted the winning goal against Huddersfield in the Premier League, got two goals in the Champions League against Red Star and was on the scoresheet in last weekend’s 4-1 demolition of Cardiff City. The Egyptian has hit form at the right time and will look to capitalize on Arsenal’s defensive frailties.
Mane is Liverpool’s top scorer in the league with six goals – one behind Aubameyang – and he’ll be hoping to add to his tally against Arsenal, so will Roberto Firmino who has just two goals to his name.
Probable line-ups:
Arsenal: 4-2-3-1
Leno; Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Holding, Monreal; Torreira, Xhaka; Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Iwobi; Aubameyang.
Liverpool: 4-3-3
Alisson; Gomez, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Milner, Wijnaldum, Henderson; Mane, Salah, Firmino.
Prediction: Liverpool Win/Draw Double Chance & Both Teams to Score (9/10)
In recent years, this fixture has been entertaining with attacking football and lots of goals, and I’m hoping we get more of the same on Saturday. There’s a lot of value on Arsenal and I would have liked to back them but they just don’t give me confidence in these big games. I think it will be tight but I suggest backing Liverpool on the Win/Draw Double Chance & Both Teams to Score at 19/20.
Chad Nagel
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