Finally, club football is back after the international break bore fest and it is back with one of the best fixtures on the calendar.
There is one simple stat which empathises why it is one of the best.
This fixture boasts the most goals scored in Premier League history with 166 so you can see why there is a bit of excitement from the neutrals.
But the excitement doesn’t just stop at the neutrals as just before the international break Liverpool looked to turn a corner with consecutive wins against RB Leipzig and Wolves whilst Arsenal also qualified for the Europa League quarter-finals.
So, there is some optimism from both camps even if the league table suggests otherwise with Liverpool sitting in 7thand Arsenal in 9th.
With Liverpool being the outsiders for a chance of top four Jurgen Klopp has rallied his players to ‘go with all we have’ as a run of good form could very much change what the table looks like come the end of the season.
“We are not living in dreamland, but if you ask me what I wish for in the last period then I’d say let’s go with all we have and have a look where it gets us.
“We don’t have a lot of points to waste anymore.
“We will not hesitate. We will go for it” said the German in the pre-match press conference.
He will need to make sure his team do ‘go for it’ as the Premier League champions have not won at The Emirates since the German’s first game in his first full season.
A crazy 4-3 which saw Sadio Mane celebrate his debut goal by jumping on Klopp’s back, it was a sign of things to come under Klopp’s management and fans would love to see Mane back amongst the goals again this time round.
Since then The Emirates has not been a fantastic place to visit for the Reds with an infuriating 3-3 draw and then another frustrating stalemate that finished 1-1 in the 2018/19 season.
Then last season after Liverpool had won the title Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal beat Liverpool for the first time since 2015.
This season Arteta has continued to be a thorn in Klopp’s side as the Spaniard has already beaten him twice in the Community Shield and the Carabao Cup on penalties.
It could be argued though that Klopp won the one that mattered as in the reverse fixture his side absolutely battered the Gunners with the result finishing 3-1.
But that was only the third game of the campaign, a lot has changed since then so when the whistle blows for kick-off on Saturday night it should be a much more open spectacle.
Jordan Henderson will still be unavailable though with Klopp saying his captain will train in the next few days or weeks.
There have been no fresh injury concerns over the international break with Xherdan Shaqiri and Diogo Jota being two standout performers out of the players who played for their countries.
Therefore, it would be a surprise to not see Jota lead the line once again as he was getting back into his stride before the break however Roberto Firmino is back and he loves a goal against Arsenal.
It is a good problem to have the options and with the massive Champions League quarter-final tie in midweek it is important to have the number nine back.
For Arsenal there is also no fresh concerns meaning that David Luiz is still out.
Talented youngsters Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe will have to be assessed for the game though.
Mikel Arteta said in his press conference that Liverpool are“the second best team in every department that we coaches have to analyse.”
He will be hoping that Liverpool are the second best team on the pitch come eight o’clock.
It has been a funny old season for both of these sides as both of them can still go onto win a major European trophy, but the pair will want to make sure they have European football next season hence why this game is vitally important.
Written by Elliot Thompson
