On
Matchday 3 of the 2025-26 Premier
League season, last term’s top two face off at Anfield. We look
at the key battles when Liverpool host Arsenal on
Sunday.
Is this the biggest game of the season already? Premier League
champions Liverpool
welcome their closest challengers from last season, Arsenal,
to Anfield for a game on Sunday that gives both teams a chance to
make a big statement in the 2025-26 campaign title race.
This will be the earliest the previous season’s top two sides
have met in a Premier League campaign since 2017-18, when Chelsea
won 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur on Matchday 2.
Both have started with two wins from two, with Tottenham the
only other side with a 100% record in the Premier League heading
into MD 3. At least one of them will have dropped points by the end
of this weekend, though.
There will be key battles all over the pitch, and ahead of
Liverpool vs Arsenal, we have taken a look at what those could
be.
Will We
Have a Winner?
A victory would feel massive for either team, but will there be
one?
The last four meetings between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield
in all competitions have ended in a draw. The last time a team won
the fixture was when Liverpool ran out 4-0 victors in their Premier
League clash in November 2021.
Following a 0-0 draw in the League Cup semi-final first leg in
January 2022, their last three meetings there have ended 2-2, 1-1
and 2-2, with Arsenal recovering from 2-0 down to rescue a point in
last season’s fixture, though that came after Liverpool had already
clinched the title.
In fact, the Reds have had more success against the Gunners at
the Emirates in recent times; their last three wins over Arsenal in
all competitions have all come in north London.
Liverpool are winless in six Premier League matches against
Arsenal (D4 L2), their longest winless run against them since going
eight without a win between October 2007 and April 2011.
However, Arsenal haven’t won at Anfield in almost 13 years. They
are winless in their last 12 away games against Liverpool (D5 L7)
since a 2-0 victory in September 2012. Notably, Mikel Arteta played
for the Gunners that day.
A win would be huge for either team, even at this early stage of
the season, but another draw might be the likeliest outcome based
on recent history.
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Is
Arsenal’s Biggest Strength Liverpool’s Biggest
Weakness?
It is not a new observation to say that Arsenal are potent from
set-pieces.
They have scored 18 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League
since the start of last season, the joint-most along with
Nottingham Forest, while three of Arsenal’s six goals this season
have come from corners.
In fact, since the start of the 2023-24 campaign, Arsenal have
scored 33 corner goals in the Premier League – more than any other
side in Europe’s big-five leagues. The Gunners have also scored
from a corner in their last three games, but have never done so in
four games in a row before.
Liverpool conceded two goals from set pieces in their 3-2 win at
Newcastle on Monday, with the second in particular a sloppy one
that allowed William Osula to equalise late on despite the hosts
having just 10 men.
So, could Arsenal’s propensity for taking advantage of offensive
set-pieces see them get some joy at Anfield?
The champions have generally looked vulnerable at the back in
the early games of the new campaign, conceding twice against each
of Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Newcastle, though it ultimately
only cost them in their penalty shootout defeat to Palace in the
Community Shield.
Specifically looking at set-pieces, though, of the 17
ever-present Premier League teams since the start of last season,
only five have conceded more goals from set-pieces than Liverpool
despite the Reds (11) going on to win the title last season.
However, it should be mentioned that only Arsenal (88) and
Manchester City (87) have faced fewer shots from set-piece
situations than Liverpool in that time (110), while only three had
a lower expected goals against total from set-pieces (9.6). So, it
could be down to variance and bad luck in moments more than just
being bad at dealing with set-pieces.
Speaking of which, it should also be noted that Arsenal are one
of those teams who have conceded more goals from set-pieces in that
time (14), even though only Man City (7.6) had a lower xG against
from such situations than their 8.1.
Liverpool’s defending hasn’t been great in their first few
games, and they’ll need to be on their toes to keep Arsenal at bay
generally, but perhaps especially from set-pieces.
Can
Mohamed Salah Start Firing?
Mohamed
Salah may have scored in Liverpool’s opening-day win over
Bournemouth and grabbed an assist for Rio
Ngumoha’s sensational added-time winner at Newcastle on Monday,
but there’s still a feeling that he’s yet to get going in
2025-26.
Expectation levels are always high for the Egyptian, and
especially so this season after last term’s sensational 47 goal
involvements (29 goals, 18 assists), which equalled the all-time
Premier League seasonal record set by Alan Shearer (1994-95) and
Andrew Cole (1993-94) and set a new 38-game season record.
He both scored and assisted in 11 different Premier
League matches in 2024-25, breaking another competition record, but
in the win over Newcastle, he failed to attempt a single shot in a
Premier League game in which he’d played more than 30 minutes for
just the third time in a Liverpool shirt.
A meeting with Arsenal might provide the perfect opportunity for
Salah to kick on, however.
Salah has scored 11 Premier League goals against Arsenal, with
only Harry Kane (14) and Wayne Rooney (12) ever netting more
against the Gunners. Those 11 goals have been spread across 10
different matches – only Kane (12) has scored in more individual
games against Arsenal in the Premier League than Salah.
With Arsenal’s defence the meanest in the Premier League,
allowing opponents just 0.86 non-penalty xG since the start of last
season, it will be a difficult task.
But as the
highest Premier League goalscorer still playing in the
competition (187 goals), if anyone can breach their backline, it’s
Salah.
Can
Liverpool Trouble Arsenal Like Man Utd Did?
If there is one thing that has defined Arsenal under Arteta,
apart from their efficiency from set-pieces, it is their defensive
steel.
They have had the best defensive record in the Premier League in
the last two seasons, as well as the lowest expected goals against,
and they are yet to concede in 2025-26.
However, in their opening game of the season at Manchester
United, Arsenal were fortunate to keep a clean sheet. They may have
won the game 1-0, but United had 22 shots; the last time Arsenal
faced more shots in a league game in which they didn’t have a man
sent off was against Manchester City in August 2021 (25 shots). It
was also the most shots they had faced in any league game they kept
a clean sheet in since November 2020 vs Leeds United (25).
Arsenal did, though, limit United to just 1.5 xG, or an average
xG per shot of only 0.07.
On Sunday, they come up against a Liverpool side who scored the
most goals in the Premier League last season (86), had the most
shots (648), recorded the highest xG total (83.5), and have already
scored seven times in two games this season, the most of any
Premier League team.
Things
may have gone slightly awry for Man Utd since that promising
opening-day performance, but their energy and directness saw
them get at Arsenal for much of that game at Old Trafford, and but
for an inspired performance from David
Raya, Ruben Amorim’s side could and probably should have won
the game.
Then you have Liverpool’s potent weapons. As we’ve discussed,
Arsenal will come up against Salah on Sunday, who has an excellent
record against them.
Coupled with that is the home form of Cody
Gakpo, who has scored 17 goals in his last 18 starts at Anfield
for Liverpool in all competitions, scoring at least once in 11 of
his last 12 games as a starter at the ground.
And to top it off, striker Hugo
Ekitiké has made an electric start to life at Liverpool…
Will
Hugo Ekitiké and Viktor Gyökeres Score
Again?
When these two teams met at Anfield in May, Liverpool played
Luis Díaz up front, while Arsenal started
Leandro Trossard at the head of their attack; neither one a
natural striker.
Both clubs used the summer transfer window to bring in more
traditional strikers, and so far, the decision has paid off for
each of them.
Ekitiké was meant to be a bit of a project player for Liverpool,
especially with the club reportedly also trying to sign Alexander
Isak, who is undoubtedly more of a finished product than the former
Eintracht Frankfurt man.
However, he has scored three goals in three games for his new
club, with no other Liverpool player having scored more than once,
while Ekitiké has attempted more shots than any of his teammates
(eight).
He has scored in all three of his appearances for the club
(including the Community Shield); the Frenchman is the first
Liverpool player to find the net in each of his first three games
for the club since Daniel Sturridge in 2012-13.
Viktor
Gyökeres didn’t have the best debut for Arsenal at Manchester
United, but showed what he is all about in the 5-0 demolition of
Leeds United last weekend.
The Swede’s first goal for his new club in particular was
typical of the impact he had at Sporting CP, cutting inside from
the left channel before slamming his shot inside the near post. He
later calmly dispatched a penalty to seal the rout.
Ekitiké and Gyökeres both have two goals from two Premier League
games, and in a potentially tight encounter, could well be the
difference makers, giving the game a new dimension after there
weren’t any natural strikers on the pitch for the majority of their
2-2 draw only three months ago.
No
Regrets
It’s a bit cliché to cite the midfield battle, but there’s just
that little bit more narrative there for this game.
Liverpool tried and failed to sign
Martín Zubimendi in the summer of 2024, and ultimately decided
to give
Ryan Gravenberch a go at playing at the base of the midfield as
a result. It paid off and then some, with the Dutchman one of the
most impressive players of the 2024-25 season that saw them clinch
the Premier League title.
Zubimendi stayed at Real Sociedad before signing for Arsenal
this summer, and in only his third game in the Premier League, the
Spain international will come up against the club he snubbed 12
months ago. Will he show Liverpool what they missed out on, or will
the man who benefitted most from that decision outshine him at
Anfield?
Gravenberch made 60 interceptions in the Premier League last
season, the third-most in the whole division, while he won
possession 193 times, more than any other Liverpool player.
He made his first appearance of this season in the dramatic 3-2
win at Newcastle, and while Liverpool somewhat struggled to control
things, Gravenberch scored the opening goal and was one of the
visitors’ steadier players on the night.
Zubimendi has made a promising start to life at Arsenal too,
having won possession more often than any of his teammates (10)
across their first two Premier League games, while only Jurriën
Timber (6) has made more than his five tackles.
Instead of wondering what might have been, both Liverpool and
Arsenal will likely be looking at what could still be when it comes
to their talented midfielders.
Will Top
Teens Make an Impact?
Last weekend was quite difficult for people who don’t like being
made to feel old. Not only did Rio
Ngumoha – born over a month after Spain beat Germany in the
Euro 2008 final – score the winning goal for Liverpool at
Newcastle, but Max
Dowman – born two weeks after the film Avatar was
released in cinemas in December 2009 – made his Premier League
debut for Arsenal in their win over Leeds.
Both made an impact, too. Ngumoha scored the winner in the 100th
minute at St James’ Park, making him Liverpool’s youngest ever
scorer and the fourth-youngest
in Premier League history.
Dowman, meanwhile, came off the bench to become the second-youngest
player in Premier League history, while he also terrorised
Leeds down the Arsenal right and even won a penalty to allow
Gyökeres to make it 5-0.
Is the Premier League Getting Younger?
And despite the magnitude of the game on Sunday, and the fact
their combined age is still lower than Mohamed Salah, there is a
decent chance both will feature again.
With Bukayo
Saka out injured, the assumption is that Noni
Madueke will start on the right for Arsenal, but Dowman could
well be the man to replace the former Chelsea winger should Arteta
feel a change is necessary later in the contest. He has shown no
fear so far, so even being thrown into the cauldron of Anfield may
not phase him.
Ngumoha finds himself as arguably only one of two natural left
wingers at Liverpool along with Gakpo now that Díaz has departed,
and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Arne Slot turn to him again on
Sunday given the difference he made at Newcastle.
All the while, the rest of us can just sit there fuming that
both teams feature players who have probably never heard of
Ceefax or MySpace.
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