Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s friendly clash between Liverpool and Arsenal, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Liverpool will take on Arsenal in an all-Premier League clash at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday, as part of both teams’ American pre-season tour ahead of the 2024-25 campaign
The Reds have had a mixed pre-season so far, with one win and one loss in their two friendlies, while the Gunners have achieved one draw and one win in their two fixtures.
Match preview
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At the time of Jurgen Klopp‘s surprise announcement that he would be stepping down as Liverpool manager at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, the Reds were still competing in all four competitions – Premier League, FA Cup, Europa League and EFL Cup – and they were determined to give the legendary manager the perfect send off.
Their season failed to live up to the extreme promise as they made quarter-final exits from both the Europa League and FA Cup and finished nine points behind the champions in third place, but Klopp still left with a winners medal after his side triumphed against Chelsea in the EFL Cup final.
The Reds are now midway through their first pre-season without Klopp at the helm since 2015, with new manager Arne Slot the man given the challenging task of replacing the German coach.
Slot, who impressed in his time at Feyenoord by guiding them to third, first and second-placed finishes, endured a difficult debut in charge of Liverpool, suffering a 1-0 loss to Preston North End in a behind-closed-doors friendly, despite naming a team consisting of Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah.
They were able to bounce back with a victory in their next match, defeating Real Betis 1-0 thanks to Szoboszlai’s first-half strike and dominating possession with 63% of the ball, an indicator of Liverpool’s new tactical approach under Slot.
Liverpool remains the only team in the Premier League yet to make a first-team signing, leaving Slot having to utilise the immensely talented existing squad during their pre-season tour.
Their third friendly will pit them against a familiar foe in Arsenal, who they were embroiled in a title race with for a large duration of the previous campaign.
The Gunners fell short in the race for the Premier League trophy for the second successive time last year, finishing five points behind Manchester City in 2022-23 and two points behind in 2023-24.
Mikel Arteta‘s men took Pep Guardiola‘s side right to the final day, but despite a 2-1 victory against Everton, Man City comfortably beat West Ham United to lift their fourth consecutive league title, a Premier League record.
Arteta will be desperate to put an end to Man City’s dominance and guide Arsenal to the Premier League trophy for the first time since 2003-04 in the upcoming season, with a tough pre-season schedule sure to prepare them for the challenge.
The Gunners drew 1-1 in their opening friendly against Bournemouth, defeating them in a penalty shootout, before coming from behind to beat Manchester United 2-1 in their most recent outing.
Arsenal will now be gearing up for a difficult fixture against Liverpool, who they beat, lost to and drew with last season, before facing Bayer Leverkusen and Olympique Lyonnais in preparation for their season opener against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Liverpool friendly form:
Arsenal friendly form:
Team News
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As many as 14 Liverpool players were involved in international duty at either the 2024 European Championships or Copa America, and a majority of those stars are yet to return after reaching the knockout rounds, with only Andrew Robertson, Diogo Jota, Szoboszlai and Vitezslav Jaros returning due to group stage exits.
Curtis Jones is unlikely to feature in this one after being forced off with an injury in the friendly victory against Real Betis, meaning Slot could potentially name a midfield of Wataru Endo, Tyler Morton and Szoboszlai.
Slot’s defensive options are extremely depleted due to the international involvement of several key players, leaving a weakened backline of Caoimhin Kelleher, Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Sepp van den Berg and Konstantinos Tsimikas likely to start.
Arsenal are also without several regular starters due to the international tournaments, meaning Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka, David Raya and William Saliba will not play a part on the tour.
Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli all joined the squad from July 25 and played a part in the victory over Manchester United, and the trio are likely to start this one.
17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri has featured in the starting side in each of Arsenal’s two friendly matches so far, and the midfielder will be looking to continue his impressive run of displays against Liverpool.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Bradley, Quansah, Van den Berg, Tsimikas; Endo, Morton; Salah, Szoboszlai, Elliott; Jota
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Hein; White, Timber, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Nwaneri; Jesus, Havertz, Martinelli
We say: Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal
While neither side will want to over-exert themselves in a pre-season friendly, we expect a competitive match as the two sides fight for bragging rights ahead of the new season.
Despite both sides missing a number of stars, Arsenal will be boosted by Liverpool’s depleted defence, and we expect the Gunners to record a victory here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.