The Premier League champs welcome unfortunate runners-up to Anfield on Sunday.
PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPS VS. ARSENAL
| Sunday, May 11th |
Premier League | Anfield
4:30PM GMT/11:30AM EST
No matter what happens in Sunday’s match against Arsenal, we will still get to see the Gunners, Liverpool’s nearest competition, present the Reds with a guard of honor at Anfield.
I seriously considered just ending the preview there, because what else is there to say? Liverpool return to Anfield for the first time since securing their 20th league victory against Tottenham Hotspur. When looking at this three week run of games against the big London teams: Spurs, Chelsea, and now Arsenal, if things had gone differently, this could have been a very tense for Liverpool fans. As it stands, though, it’s been one big celebration, and win or lose, tomorrow will be another victory lap.
Now, of course, no one wants Liverpool to lose. A nice battering would be food to my soul. But just as Chelsea were battling to make their way back into the Champions League spots, Arsenal are battling to stay in them. They are currently in second place, but at 67 points, they are only three above Manchester City and four above Newcastle United and Chelsea. A catastrophic downslide is unlikely but not impossible for the Gunners, so they’ll be out to win.
This game feels like a good one to give Conor Bradley another run out and maybe help Mohamed Salah pad his stats before the season ends.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-2-3-1)
Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Diaz
Alexander-Arnold is confirmed to be starting on the bench for this one. Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton are also still out of commission. Other than that, it remains to be seen how Slot will choose to line-up his men. Winning the remaining nine points would put them over the 90 points mark, which would certainly be nice.
For Arsenal, they’ll be without Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Magalhaes, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Kai Havertz.
What the Managers Had to Say
Arne Slot: “Like everybody who likes Liverpool, we’re disappointed about [Trent Alexander-Arnold] leaving. But I also worked at clubs where multiple good players left so I’m more used to it. When good players leave, good players step up.”
Mikel Arteta: “But they (Liverpool) deserve that guard of honour because they have been the best team and they fully deserve it. When somebody is better, you have to applaud and accept it and try to reach that level.”
The Officials
Referee: Simon Hooper. Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long. Fourth official: Tony Harrington. VAR: John Brooks. Assistant VAR: Matthew Wilkes.
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