Liverpool will be hoping to avoid a first home defeat against Arsenal since 2012, when the league leaders visit on Sunday.
Liverpool have had the better of the Gunners in recent years but this is the best Arsenal team to visit Anfield since the mid-2000s.
Arsenal are 29 points ahead of Liverpool, a stark contrast to last season when Liverpool finished the campaign 23 points ahead of the Londoners.
Let’s take a look at some of the key stats ahead of Sunday’s showdown.
Arsenal’s bogey fixture
If you can call Liverpool a bogey team for any side then it’s Arsenal.
The Reds have won 25 Premier League games against Arsenal with the Gunners winning 17 and drawing 19.
At Anfield, in this era, Liverpool have won 16 times while drawing eight and losing six.
The teams met four times last season with Liverpool triumphing in both league clashes as well as progressing in the League Cup, winning 2-0 on aggregate in the semi-final.
Arsenal last gained a point at Anfield in January 2016, when a 90th-minute Joe Allen equaliser denied the Gunners a victory, as the match ended 3-3.
They did, though, record a victory at Anfield in the League Cup, in October 2020. They won 5-4 on penalties following a goalless draw.
The Gunners’ victory over the Reds earlier this season was only their second in the last 15 league clashes.
Their league win at Anfield came in September 2012, when Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla scored in a 2-0 victory.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started that day for Arsenal, and Jordan Henderson was an unused substitute for the hosts.
Goals galore
There have been 180 goals scored in Premier League encounters, the most in any fixture in the competition.
There has only been one goalless draw in the last 45 league encounters, at the Emirates in 2015.
Since a goalless draw in August 1998, the ensuing 23 league clashes on Merseyside have seen 87 goals scored.
In the last 14 league meetings, 60 goals have been scored, with Liverpool’s share being 41.
Liverpool have scored three or more goals in 10 of the last 14 top-flight encounters, and the Reds have not lost in the last nine home league encounters, winning seven and drawing the other two, scoring 32 times during that period.
In those nine home games, the Reds have scored at least three goals in eight of them, scoring twice in the other.
In league clashes, they have netted three or more in 10 of the last 14 encounters.
Liverpool have scored in each of the last 14 league meetings against Arsenal.
The Reds have kept two clean sheets in the last 16 Anfield encounters and not since December 2000, have they kept a second successive home league shut-out.
Firmino’s last chance to beat Fowler
Roberto Firmino has scored 10 goals in 14 league appearances, the team he has netted most against, and no Liverpool player has scored more against the Gunners in league history.
Nine of the 10 that he has scored against Arsenal have come in front of the Kop.
Only Robbie Fowler (12) has ever scored more goals against the Gunners in all competitions than Firmino.
The Brazilian’s goal at the Emirates this season was the Reds’ 300th against Arsenal in all league encounters and the 99th at Arsenal in the league.
Mo Salah‘s first goal in England came against Arsenal as a substitute as Chelsea won 6-0 at Stamford Bridge in March 2014.
Diogo Jota has scored in four of his last five league appearances against the Gunners with his first Liverpool goal coming against them on his league debut in September 2020, in a 3-1 victory.
The Portuguese international has scored seven goals against Arsenal in all competitions – the most he has scored against any team in a Liverpool shirt, averaging a goal every 73 minutes.
Milestones and landmarks
Jurgen Klopp could record his 100th league victory at Anfield. Only Tom Watson, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley have previously achieved the feat.
Liverpool are two goals short of recording 50 in the league this season.
Did you know?
A third of Liverpool’s 48 league goals this season have come in just two games – nine against Bournemouth and seven against Man United.
Klopp has lost just two of his 14 league games against Arsenal, winning nine and drawing three.
Last weekend saw another record for Mo Salah etched into the history books as he broke Michael Owen’s club record for most away league goals scored during the Premier League era. It was his 56th.
Arsenal are the last visiting team to defeat Liverpool at Anfield in the league after trailing at half time, doing so in December 2009.
Since that defeat, the Reds are unbeaten in 133 home league outings when ahead at the interval, winning 120.
This season’s scorers
Liverpool: Salah 23, Nunez 14, Firmino 10, Elliott 5, Diaz 4, Gakpo 4, own goals 4, Alexander-Arnold 3, Carvalho 3, van Dijk 3, Bajcetic 1, Matip 1, Oxlade-Chamberlain 1
Arsenal: Martinelli 13, Saka 13, Odegaard 10, Nketiah 9, Gabriel Jesus 7, Xhaka 7, own goals 4, Gabriel 3, Nelson 3, Partey 3, Saliba 3, Vieira 2, White 2, Elneny 1, Holding 1, Marquinhos 1, Tierney 1, Trossard 1, Zinchenko 1
* Stats courtesy of LFC statistician Ged Rea (@ged0407).
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