Liverpool will travel to north London this afternoon in a Premier League clash against Arsenal, and Jurgen Klopp will be hoping his team’s midweek victory in the Champions League can inspire a positive result at the Emirates too.
The Reds are currently 10th in the league table and 11 points adrift of the Gunners at the top, so it’s incredibly important that Klopp’s side do all that they can to close the gap by taking all three points from their visit to the capital.
Despite the struggle for convincing performances in the Premier League, Liverpool have a fantastic recent record against Arsenal as they are unbeaten in their last five meetings in all competitions.
In terms of injuries, Liverpool will be without Arthur Melo, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Andy Robertson and Curtis Jones this afternoon.
With that being said, this is how Football FanCast expects Liverpool to line up against Arsenal…
We predict there will be three changes to the team that beat Rangers on Tuesday, with the same 4-3-2-1/4-4-2 formation that was successful at Anfield.
The first change we expect to see is Ibrahima Konate reprising his role in the centre-back partnership with Virgil van Dijk in an otherwise unchanged backline of Kostas Tsimikas and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The 23-year-old hasn’t started a competitive match since May but could replace Joel Matip at the heart of the defence. This would give the player not only an opportunity to shine at the Emirates Stadium after recently returning from injury, but would also ensure rest for Matip who will no doubt feature again in the Champions League clash on Wednesday as Liverpool aim for a comfortable finish in the group stages.
The second change we predict is Fabinho returning to the centre of the pitch alongside Thiago Alcantara. That would mean club captain Jordan Henderson would lose his spot in the starting line-up despite being “outstanding” – in the words of Curtis Woodhouse – during the win over Rangers.
The £180k-per-week Brazilian midfielder missed out during that victory but replaced Henderson in the 70th minute, but it would be no surprise if he gets the nod in the starting line up this afternoon.
The third and final change we expect to see is Roberto Firmino coming in as the fourth attacker alongside Diogo Jota, Mohammed Salah and Luis Diaz, replacing Darwin Nunez in the team.
The number nine is in incredible form with five goals in ten appearances, making him the joint top goal-scorer for the club this season so far. He has an impeccable record against Arsenal, scoring nine goals and delivering three assists in his 16 meetings with the Gunners.
With that being said, it would be no surprise if Klopp makes some little tweaks to combine experience with high quality across the pitch whilst maintaining that fresh formation that worked a treat in the Champions League.
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