Premier League 2024-25: Stuttering Arsenal under pressure to perform against high-flying Liverpool

Liverpool’s 1-0 victory against RB Leipzig on Wednesday means new manager Arne Slot has won 11 of his first 12 games in charge and all six away from home -- both club records.

Defeat would leave Arsenal seven points adrift of Slot’s side and potentially six behind Manchester City, which hosts second-bottom Southampton on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Action Images via Reuters

Arsenal’s serene start to the season has hit stormy waters in the past week, and Mikel Arteta’s side knows it will be under pressure at home to Premier League leader Liverpool on Sunday.

Defeat at Bournemouth last weekend was Arsenal’s first in any competition since April and not only did it drop three points but it also lost key defender William Saliba for the Liverpool clash after his red card.

Arsenal responded with a laboured 1-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday in the Champions League but even that came at a cost with defender Riccardo Calafiori hobbling off 20 minutes from time with an injury.

The Italian could be missing along with the suspended Saliba plus injured trio Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber for the visit of a Liverpool side which has begun the post-Jurgen Klopp era in outstanding fashion.

Liverpool’s 1-0 victory against RB Leipzig on Wednesday means new manager Arne Slot has won 11 of his first 12 games in charge and all six away from home -- both club records.

Defeat would leave Arsenal seven points adrift of Slot’s side and potentially six behind Manchester City, which hosts second-bottom Southampton on Saturday.

That might not have Arteta hitting the panic button but allowing its two biggest title rivals such an early head start would leave the Londoners with precious little wriggle room in the months ahead.

Following Arsenal’s scrappy win over Donetsk, Arteta promised his team would be ‘flying’ on Sunday after four days’ preparation but Liverpool, despite one day less to recover after their trip to Germany, will arrive brimming with confidence.

“Arteta has done an amazing job in the last few years and we have to be on top of our game to get a result,” Slot said.

BEST START

The Dutchman is enjoying the best start by any Liverpool manager and the key appears to be minimum tinkering with Klopp’s formula, though there does seem a more pragmatic element to its style seen in last weekend’s gritty 2-1 win over Chelsea.

That was deemed Slot’s biggest test to date and he passed it with flying colours. Victory at Arsenal in the late game on Saturday would represent another massive result.

Champion Manchester City will most likely be top by then as it would be a huge shock if it does not beat a Southampton side still reeling from last week’s 3-2 home defeat by fellow struggler Leicester City, having led 2-0.

Fourth-placed Aston Villa made it three wins from three in the Champions League on Tuesday and will be on cloud nine as it prepares to welcome Bournemouth on Saturday when victory would lift them to 20 points, a point behind Liverpool.

“We have to keep the level increasing,” manager Unai Emery said after Tuesday’s 2-0 home win against Bologna.

Besides Arsenal’s heavyweight clash with Liverpool, three other games take place in the capital on Sunday with the most intriguing between West Ham United and Manchester United.

Hammers manager Julen Lopetegui has endured a tough start to his reign and a 4-1 hammering at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend did not go down well with the fans.

That defeat left West Ham in 15th spot, three points behind Manchester United whose 2-1 victory over Brentford last weekend gave under-fire manager Erik ten Hag some respite.

However, Dutchman Ten Hag needs more than the odd victory to escape the endless cycle of crisis in which he seems to have existed for most of his time at Old Trafford.

The weekend programme kicks off on Friday with the east-Midlands derby as Leicester manager Steve Cooper welcomes his resurgent former club Nottingham Forest who would move into fifth place, for a few hours at least, with a win.