Arsenal vs Liverpool Prediction: Stalemate might suit both sides

The pick of the Premier League's weekend action comes at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday (16:30, Sky Sports Main Event) as Arsenal host early-season leaders Liverpool. The Gunners will be looking to make amends for their first defeat of the 2024/25 campaign last Saturday, when they lost 2-0 at AFC Bournemouth, while the Reds arrive into north London on the back of an eight-game win streak.

Below you can find my Arsenal vs Liverpool prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this crunch clash between two of the division's most successful sides.

Team News

William Saliba made a disastrous decision to haul down Bournemouth striker Evanilson at the Vitality Stadium last weekend, and the France international will pay the price for that last-man challenge on Sunday as he serves a one-game ban for the red card he received.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has a defensive headache on his hands with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney recently joined in the treatment room by Riccardo Calafiori, who suffered a problem in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Uefa Champions League.

Arteta will hope that Jurrien Timber can shake off the injury that has kept him out of Arsenal's last three matches and if he has, expect the Dutchman to slot in at right-back, with Ben White moving across to partner Gabriel Magalhaes at centre-back. Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko, meanwhile, are set to battle it out at left-back.

In midfield, Declan Rice and Thomas Partey may be joined by Jorginho with Martin Odegaard still sidelined, although supporters will hope for a surprise inclusion of 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri.

The big news is whether Bukayo Saka, who has sat out both of Arsenal's games in the last seven days, is fit enough to return on the right-hand side of their attack. If he is, the England international is likely to start alongside Kai Havertz and one of Gabriel Martinelli or Leandro Trossard.

It should be noted, however, that neither Saka nor Timber, trained on Friday.

Football Odds

Diogo Jota, so often the scourge of Arsenal in this fixture, has been ruled out of Sunday's trip to the Emirates Stadium.

Alisson Becker and Harvey Elliott aren't back from their issues until later next month, while Federico Chiesa and Conor Bradley are considered doubts to feature on Sunday after missing training earlier this week.

Andy Robertson is expected to come back in for Kostas Tsimikas after the Greek left-back was named in the starting XI for Wednesday's 1-0 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League. The Scot would join Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk in defence in front of deputy goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

In midfield, Premier League ever-present Ryan Gravenberch is a certainty to start, but head coach Arne Slot must pick two out of Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai alongside his fellow Dutchman. The physicality of Jones and Szoboszlai may win out at the Emirates, although it would be no surprise to see Mac Allister make the lineup either.

Mohamed Salah is a certainty on the right-hand side of attack and Darwin Nunez should make back-to-back starts at centre-forward after scoring the winner in midweek. The final question is whether Luis Diaz, who hasn't started either of the Reds' two games since the international break, begins at left-wing, or whether Slot keeps faith with Cody Gakpo.

To me, it feels like the right time to bring Diaz back into the starting fold.

Arsenal vs Liverpool Odds

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Arsenal are 7/5 favourites to return to winning ways in the Premier League, giving the Gunners an implied win probability of 41.7%, but Liverpool (2/1) aren't too far off on 33.3%.

The draw, meanwhile, is available at 12/5, and both teams to score at 4/6.

Salah (2/1) heads the anytime goalscorer market, followed by Nunez (5/2), Saka and Havertz (23/10).

Double Chance & Over/Under 2.5 Total Goals - Arsenal or Draw & Under @ 6/4

Liverpool are four points clear of Arsenal in the table, but that doesn't tell the full story of the season.

Yes, Liverpool have been superb under Slot since he took over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer, winning 11 of their 12 games under him in all competitions - the only black mark being the 1-0 Anfield defeat to Nottingham Forest on September 14.

Manchester United, AC Milan, Chelsea and, most recently, RB Leipzig have all been unable to take anything off the Reds, but Slot knows that Sunday represents his biggest challenge yet.

Arsenal held the Reds to a 1-1 draw at Anfield last December and beat the Merseysiders 3-1 at the Emirates in February en route to finishing seven points ahead of them in the Premier League.

Liverpool did beat the Gunners 2-0 in an FA Cup third-round tie at the Emirates in January, but they are winless in their last four league games against them with their last victory over them in the competition coming in March 2022.

A lot has changed since then, with Arteta making Arsenal such a difficult team to beat, or even break down.

There have been issues with Arteta's side this season, and they have already dropped seven points.

However, they have won every match in which they have kept 11 men on the field, so as long as they keep their discipline on Sunday, they will have a great chance of avoiding defeat.

Arsenal have already faced a fellow title rival, drawing 2-2 against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last month despite seeing Trossard sent off just before half-time. They were actually winning at the time of Trossard's dismissal and looked fairly comfortable, and it took until the eighth minute of second-half stoppage-time for John Stones to find an equaliser.

There are selection issues for Arteta to contend with on Sunday but that is only likely to make the hosts more determined, and probably more defensive. We've already seen a team 'do a job' defensively on Liverpool in Nottingham Forest, and while I don't expect to see the same level of commitment to dropping back, Arsenal do have the mentality of keeping things tight and also have much better defenders.

As a result, I don't see many goals in this clash on Sunday, so backing under 2.5 total goals, which landed in the first two meetings between the sides last season, looks like a sensible move.

I'm also combining it with the double chance result on Arsenal, who will be desperate to avoid back-to-back Premier League defeats. I think they have the defensive nous to at least take a point this weekend, and the visitors wouldn't be too disheartened if the scores were to end level.

Correct Score - Draw 1-1 @ 11/2

Considering the injury issues affecting both sides this weekend, a Sunday stalemate might be welcomed by both.

It finished 1-1 at Anfield in last season's Premier League meeting with Salah cancelling out Gabriel's early effort, and the score was 1-1 at half-time in February's reverse fixture before Martinelli scored in the 67th minute. Trossard subsequently put the game beyond the visitors in added time after Konate had been sent off in the 88th minute.

Liverpool are yet to draw under Slot but Arsenal have been held three times across all competitions, starting with a 1-1 draw with Brighton at the Emirates on August 31. They also eked out a 0-0 with Atalanta in Bergamo on September 19, three days before their ill-tempered stalemate at the Etihad.

There are dangerous attackers on both sides so it wouldn't surprise me to see Arsenal and Liverpool each find the net on Sunday, but with the strength of the defenders on display, I don't anticipate a particularly high-scoring encounter, and thus 1-1 is my scoreline pick.

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