Sunday Premier League preview – Arsenal vs Liverpool

August 14 , 2016 16:00pm – Emirates Stadium

Recent Form in all competitions

Arsenal: WWWWD

Liverpool: LWLWL

Arsenal and Liverpool will meet in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon in the pick of the weekend’s opening fixtures.

Both sides have had their fair share of injuries over the last 12 months and that trend will continue this weekend as Arsenal barely have a fit defender available, while Liverpool have half a dozen players occupying the treatment room.

Fortunately for the Reds, some good business in the summer transfer window means that, unlike last term, they are well placed to cope with their absences. However, the same cannot be said of Arsenal who have a genuine defensive crisis on their hands.

The lack of fit defenders means that Arsene Wenger will have to field a makeshift backline when his team faces one of the league’s most potent attacking units on Sunday. That will be a worry for Arsenal fans who have already expressed their concerns with the quality of the first choice defenders currently at the club.

Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp has plenty of reinforcements available to cover for James Milner, Daniel Sturridge, Loris Karius, Lucas Leiva, Joe Gomez and Mamadou Sakho, who will all be missing on Sunday.

The Anfield club surprised everyone one when they strolled to a 4-0 victory over Barcelona at Wembley last weekend. However, not all of their pre-season performances were quite so convincing and there are still doubts in amongst some observers about the clubs credentials as genuine top-four candidates.

The Emirates has not been a happy hunting ground for the Reds in recent years but they will be keen to take advantage of an under strength Arsenal team by taking an attacking approach to this game. As a result, this could be one of the most entertaining games of the weekend.

The home side had a decent pre-season campaign that ended with a 3-2 win over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. That game would have given Wenger the chance to gauge his players against one of their direct title rivals. Although, at this stage of the season – with different teams operating at different fitness levels – friendly results can often provide false indicators of form.

The Gunners list of absentees includes Gabriel Paulista, Per Mertesacker, Danny Welbeck, Carl Jenkinson and Laurent Koscielny.

Prediction

Liverpool will no doubt want to throw everything at the threadbare Arsenal defence, so a strong attacking line up can be expected from Jurgen Klopp. As a result, a rare win at the Emirates could be on the cards for the Merseyside club.

You can back the away win at 5/2 with Betfair.

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