Liverpool vs Arsenal: Five Key Battles That Will Decide this Match

The Premier League’s most anticipated early-season clash arrives this Sunday as reigning champions Liverpool welcome Arsenal to Anfield in what promises to be a title race-defining encounter. With both teams boasting perfect records through two matches, this Matchday 3 showdown represents the earliest meeting between a season’s top two finishers since Chelsea faced Tottenham in 2017-18.

Both Liverpool and Arsenal have started the 2025-26 campaign with maximum points, joining Tottenham as the only sides maintaining 100% records in the Premier League. However, at least one of these giants will taste their first defeat by weekend’s end, making this fixture a crucial early barometer for title aspirations.

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. The timing adds extra weight to an already massive fixture, with both clubs looking to establish psychological dominance in what many predict will be another two-horse title race.

1. Arsenal’s Set-Piece Mastery vs Liverpool’s Defensive Vulnerability

Arsenal’s set-piece excellence poses Liverpool’s most significant tactical threat. The Gunners have scored 18 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League since the start of last season, joint-most along with Nottingham Forest. Three of Arsenal’s six goals this season have come from corners, demonstrating their continued dominance from dead-ball situations.

The statistics are staggering: 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, adding extra motivation for Sunday’s encounter.

Set-Piece Statistics Breakdown

Liverpool’s defensive frailties are already showing. The champions 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.

However, the context reveals a more nuanced picture. 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 (11) despite the Reds going on to win the title. Yet only Arsenal (88) and Manchester City (87) have faced fewer shots from set-piece situations than Liverpool (110), while only three had a lower expected goals against total from set-pieces (9.6).

Interestingly, 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. This suggests variance and bad luck can affect even the best-prepared teams.

2. 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.

Remarkably, Salah both scored and assisted in 11 different Premier League matches in 2024-25, breaking another competition record. However, 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 concerning statistic for Liverpool fans.

A meeting with Arsenal might provide the perfect opportunity for Salah to kick on, however. The Liverpool superstar 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.

Salah’s Arsenal Record

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.

3. Can Liverpool Trouble Arsenal Like Man United 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 – showcasing their ability to force opponents into low-quality chances.

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.

Liverpool’s Attacking Threat Analysis

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.

Liverpool possess potent weapons beyond Salah. Cody Gakpo 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 – an incredible home record that Arsenal must be wary of.

4. 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.

New Striker Impact

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.

5. Midfield Redemption – 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.

Midfield Battle Statistics

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.

This Sunday’s encounter promises to be a tactical masterclass, with these five key battles potentially determining which team maintains their perfect start to the 2025-26 Premier League season. The psychological advantage gained from victory could prove invaluable as both clubs pursue another title challenge.

Read More: Liverpool vs Arsenal Preview: Prediction, Team News and Where to Watch the Premier League Match LIVE

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