Liverpool vs Arsenal: An Early Battle for EPL Supremacy
Perfect records at risk
The 2025/26 English Premier League campaign is still very much in its infancy, with only two matchdays being completed so far, but it’s already clear that both Liverpool, who are the current champions, and Arsenal, who finished last season in second place, are genuine title challengers.
Both teams have made perfect starts to the campaign, even if they’ve taken contrasting routes to do so. On the one hand, the Gunners ground out a single-goal victory at Old Trafford first time out, before stepping on the gas to destroy a newly promoted Leeds team last weekend, scoring five goals, keeping their second clean sheet of the season.
The Reds are yet to go down the clean sheet route, first conceding two goals at home to Bournemouth on the opening night, before requiring late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah to claim all three points.
There was more late drama in store for Arne Slots’s title defenders in the North East on matchday two. Despite being both two goals and a man up against Newcastle, the men from Anfield struggled to dominate, so much so that they were pegged back to 2-2 in the dying moments of regulation time. Fortunately, 16-year-old substitute Rio Ngumoha came to the rescue with a sweet finish, winning the game for Liverpool in the 100th minute.
As we stand, both teams have perfect records, but either one or both will no longer be able to make such claims after Sunday’s business is concluded.
Where will this fixture take place?
Sunday’s game is due to take place at Anfield, the home of Liverpool, who will be playing in front of a home crowd for the second time this season. The home fans will be hoping that a late winner is not required on this occasion, though if the first two games are anything to go by, they may be disappointed.
The game is due to kick off at 16:30 local time, meaning that those Eastern Time viewers can expect to see the pair get things underway at 11:30 AM.
What does the recent history of this fixture look like?
In their last meeting, the spoils were shared as the Reds and the Gunners tied 2-2 at Anfield back in May. On that occasion, the hosts appeared to be cruising to victory when Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz scored within a minute of each other to establish a two-goal lead during the first half. However, Mikel Arteta’s men came up with the answers in the second half, scoring twice through Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino, although it is worth mentioning that the title was already secured, making the scoreline less significant for both teams.
Interestingly, when these two faced each other at Emirates Stadium last season, they also tied 2-2. That time, Bukayo Saka had given Arsenal the lead after just nine minutes, before Virgil van Dijk headed the visitors level shortly after. Mikel Merino scored what would turn out to be his first of two goals against Liverpool during the 2024/25 campaign, sending Arsenal back into the lead just before the break, but there would be one more goal, going the way of the visitors when the ever reliable Mohamed Salah notched after 81 minutes.
Will we see another high-scoring tie this time around? Well, both teams have the quality to do no shortage of damage, while pound for pound, they quite evenly matched, so another high-scoring yet close game certainly isn’t out of the question.
Here are the scores for the last ten competitive renewals of this fixture:
May 2025: Liverpool 2 - 2 Arsenal
Oct 2024: Arsenal 2 - 2 Liverpool
Apr 2024: Arsenal 3 - 1 Liverpool
Jan 2024: Arsenal 0 - 2 Liverpool
Dec 2023: Liverpool 1 - 1 Arsenal
Sep 2023: Liverpool 2 - 2 Arsenal
Oct 2022: Arsenal 3 - 2 Liverpool
Mar 2022: Arsenal 0 - 2 Liverpool
Jan 2022: Arsenal 0 - 2 Liverpool
Jan 2022: Liverpool 0 - 0 Arsenal
As we can see, these two have faced each other on ten occasions since January 2022, and it’s fair to say that they’ve often been closely matched, with five of these ten games ending all-square. What’s perhaps most interesting is the fact that only two of the last ten competitive renewals of this fixture have gone the way of the team playing in front of a home crowd.
Which players can make the difference?
Given that this is such a high-profile fixture between two clubs that certainly haven’t held back during the summer transfer window, there are many players who could make the difference here, too many to name in fact, so I’ve decided to zoom in on Hugo Ekitike for the hosts and new arrival Eberechi Eze for the visitors.
Hugo Ekitike
Having made the switch from Frankfurt in the Bundesliga over the summer, commanding a very sizable transfer fee, Hugo Ekitike was under pressure to score goals right from the word go, but the young Frenchman has so far shouldered that pressure with aplomb, scoring not only against Bournemouth, but finding the net against Newcastle last time out too.
The 23-year-old, who netted 15 Bundesliga goals last season, also scored in the Community Shield against Crystal Palace, meaning that he goes into Sunday’s game having scored in three games on the bounce. A man in form.
What I (and undoubtedly many others) like about Ekitike is that he looks like a very versatile forward, one who is happy to receive the ball deep, before driving towards goal, but also one who has the ability to snuff out chances in the box and apply deft first-time finishes. He looks set to make yet another positive impact.
Eberechi Eze
This will likely be Eberechi Eze’s first appearance in an Arsenal shirt, and with Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka joining the injury list last weekend, there’s a very good chance that the English maestro will be in the starting XI. If he is, he can make an instant impact.
Eze was nothing short of fantastic for Crystal Palace last season, scoring eight goals and registering eight assists, pulling the strings for a team that often impressed, especially when winning the FA Cup. Only five players in the Premier League took more shots than Eze last season, so Alisson in the Liverpool goal better watch out.
