The games are coming thick and fast with Arsenal set to lock horns with Liverpool after taking care of business in mid-week against Shakhtar Donetsk.
Tomorrow poses a different challenge for Arsenal as Liverpool come to town brimming with confidence, while the Gunners are sweating over the fitness of key players. These injury issues makes fielding Arsenal’s strongest lineup an uncertainty, but the squad is deep enough to put up a much-needed performance, as the win for Mikel Arteta’s side will close the gap at the top of the table, which is where Arsenal aspires to be.
Without further ado, here’s my predicted lineup for the Arsenal vs. Liverpool clash.
Defense
Neto would have to have to wait a bit longer to make his Arsenal debut, as David Raya will be preferred by Arteta between the sticks. Since his early flurry of clean sheets early in the season, Raya has found them hard to come by, with his quest for a clean sheet in the Premier League hitting a snag after a well-worked Ryan Christie set piece goal and a Justin Kluivert penalty. Raya got back on track with a clean sheet against Shakhtar Donetsk but he will have his work cut out if he wants to get one against one of the best attacking sides in the Premier League.
I’d expect Ben White to continue in right back and it seems like his groin injury issues are behind him. However, White’s presence as a right back is actually contingent on Jurrien Timber staying fit. If Timber doesn’t pass his late fitness test, we could see Thomas Partey deputize as a right back while White partners Gabriel in the heart of the defense. With Riccardo Calafiori set for a scan on a potential knee injury and Oleksandr Zinchenko way off from full fitness, I’d expect Jakub Kiwior to play at left back. There’s a temptation to use Myles Lewis-Skelly after Kiwior’s huge gaffe in the Bournemouth defeat, but I’d expect Arteta to opt for the more experienced option.
Midfield
With Partey potentially playing at right back if Timber isn’t deemed fit enough to start, we could see a midfield partnership of Declan Rice and Mikel Merino. Merino hasn’t come up to speed with things at Arsenal but he can be forgiven for the mere fact that he was out of action for close to two months following his acquisition from Real Sociedad. Liverpool has a combative midfield, so it will be an interesting contest in the middle of the back. Leandro Trossard will play in that attacking midfield / shadow striker role, that sees him alternate with Kai Havertz. He will want to bounce back from his questionable performances of recent.
Attack
Kai Havertz is expected to lead the line and we will be hoping to see the Gabriel Martinelli of Tuesday to unleash terror on Trent Alexander-Arnold and the Liverpool backline. The fitness of Bukayo Saka remains a talking point but if he’s not deemed fit to start, Gabriel Jesus should get the nod on the right. He put up a decent show against Shakhtar Donetsk and he’s due a goal, as he hasn’t scored since January 2024, 22 games to be exact.
