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Arsenal face a very different Liverpool to the one Manchester City beat
Arsenal FC v LOSC Lille - UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD2
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Arsenal head to Anfield on Sunday with a six-point lead over Liverpool, but this is about as tough a time as any to be visiting.

Liverpool have won five in a row, including Wednesday’s penalty shootout win over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup. If they make it six on Sunday, they’ll be just three points behind Arsenal, and there’s every argument that they’d become genuine title challengers.

Their only defeat this season came at home to Manchester City earlier this month. But Arsenal shouldn’t read too much into that 3-0 defeat.

TalkingPoints

How are you feeling about this match? Join us and follow this TalkingPoint as we visit Liverpool.

David Raya of Arsenal celebrates after Ezri Konsa of Arsenal (not pictured) scores his team’s first goal during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Arsenal FC and Everton at Emirates Stadium on October 24, 2026 in London, England.

Liverpool are a different side to the one Manchester City beat

That game turned on a contentious red card for Ryan Gravenberch at 0-0, which swung the flow of the game City’s way. Andoni Iraola was also without Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo, and with Liverpool’s depth not what it was, their attack and bench were nowhere near their usual threat.

That won’t be the case on Sunday. Isak and Gakpo are back firing, and Liverpool’s front line can score at any moment.

Isak has six goals in seven Premier League games, Gakpo has three goals and five assists in all competitions, and Florian Wirtz has a goal and four assists. Bradley Barcola is yet to score in the league, but he does have a Champions League hat-trick to his name.

Can Arsenal match Liverpool’s firepower?

The team Mikel Arteta has built is so strong that Arsenal can go to places like Bayern Munich and draw 2-2. Their squad depth and defensive solidity make them fiercely competitive against anyone. But it’s in games like this that their lack of an unstoppable attacking threat becomes a problem.

Can Arsenal score at any moment with Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, Eberechi Eze and, if he’s fit, Noni Madueke? In moments, yes. Eze in particular can be devastating on his day, but not as reliably as Liverpool’s attackers. Havertz has two goals this season, Madueke two, Odegaard four and Eze two.

Of course, these are all top players. They just don’t have the collective balance or attacking threat that Liverpool have, and Arsenal will be without Bukayo Saka and even Max Dowman. In what’s likely to be a very tight game, that could prove decisive.

Arteta will need to make up for it with a smart gameplan, perhaps reverting to the blueprint that won him the league: set-pieces, restarts, pressing traps, staying compact when Liverpool have the ball, and getting his substitutions right.

He’ll also be hoping for better luck than last season, when Dominik Szoboszlai’s stunning late free-kick won the game. Szoboszlai is out injured this time, but Arteta is still looking for his first win at Anfield as Arsenal manager.

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