Key events
“About Arteta’s dossier,” begins Peter Oh. “If I were in charge at Anfield I would instruct the groundsman to overwater the visitors’ technical area.”
I wonder what other dossiers he has. Perhaps one day he’ll publish the collection.
Meantime, in Scotland, tae Falkirk wi ye Celtic.
Also going on:
I said I don’t love Liverpool’s defence, but what a difference Ronald Araujo has made. His pace and power were sorely needed, and going forward, he’s creating problems both in free play and from set-pieces. If he can make Tzolis run towards his own goal, and I’d expect that to be the plan, he can affect the outcome of this game.
“Trey Nyoni has had to be patient,” emails Matt Dony. “His first appearance was under Klopp, a lifetime ago. But I’m really pleased he’s now getting the chance to properly establish himself. And this as an enormous vote of confidence! Big picture, Arsenal are the better team, and I can’t say I’m hopeful. But these last few weeks, Liverpool have looked different. Iraola is getting there. It looks like his side. Today could be interesting.”
I quite fancy Liverpool for this one. Though I don’t love their defence and think the lack of physicality in midfield might be a problem, they have many more ways to create chances, with possession or out of nothing, plus they’re confident.
Iraola says Nyoni is playing because he’s aggressive, quality, and able to cover ground. Arsenal don’t give you chances, so his team need to be clinical.
The strengths and weaknesses of Liverpool are different to Bournemouth, so the game-pan has to be different – with them, he had a good record against Arsenal. They’re on a run of playing the best teams andhe hopes his team win the duels and one v ones.
As for Arsenal, I do worry about their ability to threaten. They’ll look to take heat out of the game, Guimaraes popping passes about with Odegaard. I think we’ll see Havertz to try and pull about or pin Liverpool’s centre-backs, with Tzolis in particular seeking to come infield and get shots off; when the wingers cross, expect Havertz to attack the front post.
I also imagine Odegaard, a quality eight but less good as a 10, and Rice, will look to run off Nyoni and past Havertz to try and score.
So where is the game? Liverpool will look to get men around the ball when Arsenal have it, opening the pitch for switches should they win possession. And when they don’t, they’ll run like mad to recover it, stretching play and passing forwards, facilitating that by conserving energy every now and again when Nyoni slows the game down.
In particular, I expect they’ll ask Bradley Barcola to target the space left when Riccardo Calafiori goes off on adventures, with Alexander Isak pulling away for cut-backs and shooting quickly with little backlift, while Florian Wirtz looks to slip passes in behind – if he can work quickly enough in the maelstrom of the match.
As for Arsenal, I imagine Lewis-Skelly was very close. His defender’s instinct and ability to run with the ball are superb, but I wonder if Arteta reckoned he has those qualities already, in Declan Rice. What Guimaraes gives, on the other hand, is cannier passing and a better sense of when to go and when to stay.
Otherwise, though Eberechi Eze was fantastic when Palace won at Anfield in 2024, it’s no surprise to see him left out for this one. Arteta prefers predictability to mavericks but also, his ceiling isn’t high enough to compensate for his floor, while Madueke offers pace and directness regardless of how well he’s playing.
Taking a closer look at the teams, save Nyoni, Liverpool are as expected. Like many, no doubt, I’d have loved to see Rio Ngumoha instead of Cody Gakpo, and I don’t think it’ll be long before he establishes himself. For this one, though, I understand why Iraola has gone for a bit more height, physicality, and experience – defensively as well as going forward, and I imagine we’ll see the young man in the final half-hour as legs tire.
Mikel Arteta says “you have to be really precise on those moments” to win at Anfield, which Arsenal haven’t done in some time – September 2012 was the last time in the league.
Arsenal expect a difficult game from Iraola, with a vertical and chaotic game-model. They had various ankle issues after Tuesday’s games, so he was forced to make “certain decisions”, such as starting Tzolis after time out.
Email! “Your reference to monomania,” writes Ian Copestake, had me envisaging Arteta as Ahab emerging from solitude in his cabin to pin on the mast as motivation for his crew in their pursuit of the white whale, a sixteen-dollar gold dossier doubloon. I tell you I would love it if at Anfield the Arsenal manager is indeed donning a peg-leg.”
Mikel Arteta meanwhile, opts for experience in midfield, with Bruno Guimaraes preferred to Myles Lewis-Skelly. Otherwise, with Bukaya Saka injured, it’s Noni Madueke not Eberechi Eze on the right wing, while Christos Tzolis returns from six weeks out to play on the left.
Exciting news as regards the Liverpool XI: Trey Nyoni, impressive in pre-season and when he’s played so far this, is handed a first Premier League start. That it’s in a game of this magnitude tells us how highly he’s rated by his manager, and tells Ryan Gravenberch that the competition has arrived. I really like what I’ve seen of him, and I expect him to establish himself as a regular starter.
Teams!
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Araujo, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Nyoni, Mac Allister; Barcola, Wirtz, Gakpo; Isak. Subs: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Szoboszlai, Tsimikas, Munoz, Gravenberch, Koumas, Ngumoha.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Raya; Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Guimaraes, Odegaard; Madueke, Havertz, Tzolis. Subs: Kepa, Mosquera, White, Hincapie, Eze, Gyokeres, Merino, Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly.
Referee: Andy Madley (Huddersfield)
BREAKING NEWS: this is a match Sky deem of sufficient import to merit a portentous monologue. Paul Bettany obliges.
Preamble
So much of life is luck: when we’re born, where we’re born and to whom we’re born; the the skills we have; who we meet and when we meet them.
Liverpool have lost one game this season. On the Premier League’s opening weekend, they needed a penalty in ninth minute of injury time for a point at Newcastle, recently benefitted from Brentford having two players sent off and, in midweek, Emmanuel Emegha missed a penalty that would’ve sent Chelsea past them in the League Cup.
Arsenal, meanwhile, spent chunks of last season struggling to score from open play, benefiting from avant-garde refereeing calls at set-pieces – one in particular when the title felt in the balance – and the absence of high-class challengers. In the annals of champions, they are not proximate to the greatest, yet Mikel Arteta’s men have every chance of doing what Arsène Wenger’s legends could not: retain a league title.
That, though, is only half of the story. Just as being blessed with intelligence and looks, helpful neurochemistry and secure home environment, is nothing whatsoever to do with those lucky enough to experience them, so finding the devotion, composure, discipline and focus to exploit that happy chance is within our gift. Who we are is genetics and circumstance, but also, who we are is a choice we’re able to make every single day.
While Andoni Iraola bedded in as Liverpool manager, his team persevered in the early stages, making the most of the opportunities which presented to establish standards and momentum, such that now, with the new manager’s methods taking effect, they’re well placed to impose the natural talent that suffuses their squad.
Arsenal, meanwhile, became champions thanks principally to monomaniacal resolve, separating themselves from the rest with their unity and organisation. Without that, it wouldn’t have mattered what was going on elsewhere; because of it, they’ve earned the freedom to express themselves in more expansive style.
Consequently, this afternoon’s match should be a belter, two teams making the most of what they give and what’s been given to them. Liverpool play the faster, more improvisational game, with Arsenal bringing the solidity and certainty they lack; Arsenal are certain they can take the title, while Liverpool will be starting to think it possible.
For either side, a win today would be a statement – to themselves as much as to everyone else. And ultimately, for all that goes on around us, what really defines what we make of life is how we perceive ourselves.
Kick-off: 4.30pm GMT
