The Premier League title will be a major factor in this Saturday’s encounter between Arsenal and Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, has revealed that several of his players will not play in Saturday night’s match against Arsenal at Anfield. It happens just before the two teams square off in a pivotal match that will determine the Premier League champion for this year.
With 12 victories from their first 17 games of the season, Arsenal has barely pushed ahead of its rivals to take the top spot in the league. Liverpool, who have only lost once thus far but have won one less game as they near the halfway mark, are sitting slightly behind.
Aston Villa is ranked third behind the two, and Manchester City, the defending champions, are ranked fourth despite their slow start to the season following their historic treble. It should come as no surprise that both sides will believe they can get an advantage in the title fight given how close the division is right now.
However, Arsenal manager Michael Arteta has anticipated that the game will be difficult and have a fitting atmosphere. On Friday, he told the journalists, “There will be a fantastic atmosphere.” Both teams are in a very strong, advantageous, and momentous situation. They will be in a good position to pursue it and win it. It promises to be a fierce match.”However, the Reds will enter the match without a handful of its most important players due to serious injuries sustained in the previous few weeks. Due to a knee injury, Joel Matip will miss the remainder of the season, and Stefan Bajcetic and Thiago have not played since the beginning of the league.
Despite Andy Robertson’s absence due to a dislocated shoulder, Klopp stated he would return shortly. “He [Robertson] is doing well,” he stated. We must exercise patience. Not all the physical labor can be done by him yet. It won’t be long till he returns. Though we’re not sure, we hope it’s January.”
Prior to the Arsenal encounter, there have been concerns on the shorter-term injuries of Diogo Jota, Ryan Gravenberch, and Alexis MacAllister. The manager’s confirmation that the first of those players is back gave the Reds a small lift, but the other two will be missing out.
“He’s back,” he declared to the press about Gregberch. Diogo [Jota] and Macca [MacAllister] are drawing nearer, but they’re not quite ready for tomorrow. This implies that while Arsenal is moving closer to having Arteta’s entire toolkit of possibilities at his disposal, Liverpool will be missing a few key players.