Arsenal will seek to recover from their League Cup elimination when they visit Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, November 1. The Premier League meeting, scheduled for 16:30 GMT, gives Mikel Arteta’s team an opportunity to respond to Tuesday’s penalty shootout defeat against fourth-tier Fleetwood Town.
The reigning league champions exited the cup in the fourth round after a 1-1 draw, losing the shootout 5-3. That setback contrasted with their strong domestic league campaign: Arsenal have won seven of their opening eight matches and sit second on 21 points, behind Manchester City on goal difference. Their only league defeat was a 3-0 loss at Brighton last month.
Liverpool enter the fixture with five consecutive wins across all competitions. Andoni Iraola’s side are fourth on 15 points after four league victories, three draws and one defeat. A win over Arsenal would reduce the gap between the clubs to three points. Liverpool also advanced to the League Cup quarterfinals in midweek, overcoming Chelsea 6-5 on penalties.
Both teams have made unbeaten starts in the Champions League. Liverpool are third in the league standings after winning all three of their matches, while Arsenal are seventh with two victories and a draw. Their recent records across all competitions differ, however, with Arsenal recording three wins, one draw and one defeat in their past five games.
Arteta said Arsenal were looking forward to the challenge, noting that it had been 14 years since their last victory at Anfield. Captain Martin Odegaard acknowledged that the performance against Fleetwood had fallen below the required standard and stressed the need to respond. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” he said.
Iraola remained cautious about drawing conclusions from the early league standings, saying the halfway point would offer a better basis for assessment once teams had faced each other. He welcomed supporters’ expectations while emphasising that Liverpool still needed to improve. Virgil van Dijk, meanwhile, said recent results had helped strengthen the energy coming from the fans.
Liverpool’s injury list includes Hugo Ekitike with an Achilles tendon problem, Jeremie Frimpong with a hamstring injury, Conor Bradley with a knee injury and Giovanni Leoni with a cruciate ligament injury. Dominik Szoboszlai could be available after recovering from a hamstring problem.
Arsenal are also missing several players through injury, including Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, Christos Tzolis and Toni Madueke. Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori have returned to training after missing the Fleetwood match. Max Dowman faces a three-game suspension following his red card in that game, with an independent commission rejecting Arsenal’s appeal.
Liverpool hold the advantage in the clubs’ historical record, with 95 wins to Arsenal’s 81 from 246 meetings, alongside 70 draws. Opta’s supercomputer nevertheless gives Arsenal a 41.8 percent chance of victory on Sunday, compared with 32.7 percent for Liverpool and 25.5 percent for a draw.
