Former Premier League and England star John Barnes weighs up Liverpool’s threat to Arsenal ahead of Sunday’s meeting at the Emirates.
The Gunners come off the back of a Champions League win in midweek against Shakhtar Donetsk in which they won 1-0 thanks to an own goal from the opposition’s goalkeeper.
However, their previous game in the Premier League was not so successful as they lost 2-0 to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium in a disappointing evening for Mikel Arteta.
Former Liverpool defender John Barnes weighs up the Gunners’ chances against Arne Slot’s team who have won all but one of their eight games so far in the Premier League.
He told Lucky Block: “The margins are extremely fine when determining which team is better between Arsenal and Liverpool. Both have the capability of winning the league, both are normally very consistent and can put winning runs together. Come the end of the season, they’ll both be there or thereabouts.
“It’s a big game in the sense that Liverpool are playing against one of their big rivals, a team with similar points to you. It is going to be a big test but it’s also going to be a big test for Arsenal.”
Arsenal lacking star defender
Centre-back William Saliba won’t be available for Sunday’s game as the Frenchman was sent off against Bournemouth last weekend.
It is Arsenal’s third yellow card of the season, however John Barnes doesn’t believe that the discipline will impact the Gunners.
“I don’t think Arsenal have a discipline problem.” He added, “I mean, Saliba got sent off against Bournemouth because he pulled Evanilson back after a bad back pass by Trossard. That can happen.”
However, it does mean that Mikel Arteta could face some tricky selection decisions as his side are also ravaged by injury heading into Sunday’s game. Click here to see our predicted XI before the game.
Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori are all in doubt for the game which could be a big blow for Arsenal.
Liverpool will make the trip to the Emirates hoping to cement their spot at the top of the Premier League whereas it is a huge chance for Arsenal to get one up on one of their title rivals.
