Wednesday night’s Premier League fixture between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium stands to be a decisive encounter in the Premier League in what is effectively a catch-up game.
Liverpool are chasing Manchester City at the top of the standings while the Gunners want to solidify their top-four spot with games running out.
Looking at the current performances of both clubs, the encounter will be an all-action game to watch by both fans and neutrals.
Fans of City would love to see an Arsenal victory while Chelsea fans want to keep their advantage over the Gunners. Also, Manchester United, Tottenham, and West Ham fans would prefer Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool to close the gap to the Cityzens.
For Mikel Arteta, his ability to breathe life into his team from their previous shaky performances has made him a firm fan-favourite at the Emirates while the Reds want to extend their eight-match unbeaten run in the league.
History
Both clubs have met 191 times in the league of which Liverpool boast 72 victories while Arsenal have won 65 times.
Head-to-head in the last 10 encounters
| Home | Away | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | Arsenal | 2022-01-03 00:00:00 |
| Liverpool | Arsenal | 4-0 |
| Arsenal | Liverpool | 2022-03-03 00:00:00 |
| Arsenal | Liverpool | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 |
| Liverpool | Arsenal | 2022-01-05 00:00:00 |
| Liverpool | Arsenal | 2022-01-03 00:00:00 |
| Arsenal | Liverpool | 2022-01-02 00:00:00 |
| Liverpool | Arsenal | 2022-01-03 00:00:00 |
| Arsenal | Liverpool | 0-3 |
| Liverpool | Arsenal | 4-0 |
In both teams’ last 10 meetings, Liverpool have lost only once to Arsenal while the Reds can boast of seven victories with two draws.
Recent Performances
Arsenal and Liverpool have won their last five games in the EPL.
Arsenal
| Date | Home | Away | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-02-10 00:00:00 | Wolves | Arsenal | 0-1 |
| 2022-02-19 00:00:00 | Arsenal | Brentford | 2022-01-02 00:00:00 |
| 2022-02-24 00:00:00 | Arsenal | Wolves | 2022-01-02 00:00:00 |
| 2022-03-06 00:00:00 | Watford | Arsenal | 2022-03-02 00:00:00 |
| 2022-03-13 00:00:00 | Arsenal | Leicester | 2-0 |
The last time Gunners lost in the League was the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on January 1, 2022. On the other hand, Liverpool have intensified their title chase with victories in their last five games.
| Date | Home | Away | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-02-13 00:00:00 | Burnley | Liverpool | 0-1 |
| 2022-02-19 00:00:00 | Liverpool | Norwich | 2022-01-03 00:00:00 |
| 2022-02-23 00:00:00 | Liverpool | Leeds United | 6-0 |
| 2022-03-05 00:00:00 | Liverpool | Westham | 1-0 |
| 2022-03-12 00:00:00 | Brighton | Liverpool | 0-2 |
The last Liverpool defeat in the Premier League was their lone goal loss to Leicester last December.
Duels to watch
Odegard vs Fabinho
No doubt, Martin Odegard has been impressive for Arteta’s side in the last five games. The 23-year-old has made several important contributions for the Gunners and the midfielder has scored five goals and assisted three times in his 24 league games. Meanwhile, Liverpool’s main midfield enforcer, Fabinho, has achieved 1.6 tackles per game, stats that might need improvement against the silky Norwegian. Aside from his defensive role, Fabinho has scored four goals and assisted once in his last 20 games.
Tierney vs Salah
Mohamed Salah, the league’s highest goalscorer, will be at it again, as he brushes off injury worries to lead the Reds’ attack against the Gunners. In direct opposition will be the energetic and mobile Kieran Tierney, who has helped the Gunners keep eight clean sheets and averages of 0.8 tackles per game.
Lacazette vs Matip
Joel Matip won the EPL player of the month of February and will seek to continue to impress his fans and surprise his critics as he fends off Arsenal captain, Alexander Lacazette, from wreaking any havoc on Wednesday. Lacazette has not scored many league goals this season but his role in coordinating a young Arsenal attack has been outstanding. The former France international has made 10 goal contributions-three goals and seven assists in his last 11 games.
Saka vs Robertson
An intriguing matchup that could go a long way in determining the victors of this encounter. Bukayo Saka is Arsenal’s golden boy and he has the highest goal contribution for the North London side. He has 13 goal contributions-eight goals and five assists but he will be up against a dogged defender in Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson. Saka will also have to help out his right back to defend against marauding runs from Liverpool’s left-back.
White vs Mane
Sadio Mane is in-form at the moment and may continue to hold the fort as the nominal No.9 with Roberto Firmino not yet up to full fitness. The Senegalese forward will be a threat to Ben White with his strength and movement but the young English defender has shown himself as a capable defender and one that can instigate Arsenal attacks from vital interceptions.
Managers’ words
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal Manager
“We are playing better, we have an understanding of what we want. We have the right level of confidence, belief, and understanding with each other, and everything clicks better and quicker.”
On having games in hand…
“You don’t know how you’re going to take them because you want to play the games and you want to get up to speed with other teams because it’s a bit awkward sometimes when your performances can’t reflect your position in the table at times. It’s what it is, we knew that as soon we had to replay those games and we’re going to play them soon.”
On the biggest difference between our last meeting with Liverpool…
“It’s five months later! We’re still going to play against arguably the best team or the second-best team in the league, a team that is in great form and we’re certainly going to have to play at our best to beat them.”
On whether this is the best we’ve played since he arrived…
“I think with the level of consistency throughout the game and throughout a run of games, I would say yes.”
On whether being in fourth changes our mentality…
“Well, it certainly puts you in a position where you’re really looking forward to look up and it gives you the belief that you can be there with the top teams in the country, but the reality is that there’s still a long way to go.”
On whether this game will be our toughest yet in this current run…
“I think we played against some top teams and we played against City not long ago and you know the problems that they put in. Every week is a test in the Premier League and a very different one, and the challenges that you face in those games are completely different, but tomorrow certainly is a team that dominates every aspect of the game, so when that happens you have to be at your best.”
Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool Manager
On Manchester City’s draw with Crystal Palace on Monday night…
“I watched for exactly 65 minutes for analysing reasons, believe it or not. Just to have a look at what they [Man City] are doing. I don’t have very often time to watch games in real-time, so when they are really happening, I like to watch it back and stuff like this. Crystal Palace did really well but City did well as well, [they] just didn’t finish the situations off and the last 30 minutes or whatever I didn’t watch it. I got some points, saw the result, and was surprised.
On whether the Man City result changes the squad mood ahead of Arsenal…
“Why should it? It would impact the mood if we would be in our minds in this competition with City and things – ‘we have them here, we have them there’ or stuff like this. But the fact is we play Arsenal and we are still four points behind.
“I don’t know how you can count points away at Arsenal just now already and think, ‘It’s only one point.’ I think it’s easy for you, but it is four points and we have to play this game.
READ ALSO: EPL Roundup: Chelsea heap more woes on Klopp’s Liverpool
“As we all know, if we want to reach something in this Premier League and you are not top of the table, sometimes you need the other teams to drop points. I’m not sure now it was already necessary or not, we will see. It all depends on our results still. That’s why we think about them and not the others.”
On trying to push Man City all the way in the title race…
“That’s the plan, that’s the plan of course: that we keep being as annoying as possible. But how I said, we have to win our football games but that doesn’t help when I say it here. You know it anyway [so] why should we say ‘that’s now not our cup of tea’? No, of course, we are very ambitious and very determined to do great stuff, but we respect a lot how good they are [and] we respect even more how good the other teams are we face on the way there.
“I have now not all 10 games we have to play [in mind] but there are a few really tough ones. Each Premier League game is tough but a few are especially tough. One of them we play tomorrow night and sitting here and I say ‘we win 10 games’ – it doesn’t sound very likely but as long as it is possible we will give it a proper try, I can tell you.”
The match kicks off at the Emirates Stadium at 9:15 pm.
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