Arsenal – Liverpool

The Premier League leader will take revenge on the reigning English champion

The current Premier League campaign for Arsenal and Liverpool began with them as the division's favorites. The Merseyside club had persuaded the public and bookmakers of this status with their confident title win last season, as well as a high-spending transfer campaign. Six players cost the Reds almost half a billion euros. Meanwhile, Arsenal under Mikel Arteta began their seventh season. Not once during this period have the Gunners finished lower in the table than in the previous season. Undoubtedly, the London club has worn down the runner-up status and from the early rounds demonstrated its readiness to claim the long-awaited trophy. Subsequently, only Arteta's team remained the favorite. Arne Slot, who achieved triumph with Liverpool last season, failed to harmoniously fit the new expensive players into the squad and, along with them, fell into such a playing crisis from which he has not fully recovered to this day. Bookmakers ahead of the day's headline Premier League fixture priced the home side as the favorites, offering odds of 1.60 on their victory. From mid-November to mid-December Arsenal endured an unpleasant period, losing points in three of five league rounds. Against the backdrop of Manchester City's and Aston Villa's winning runs, such results forced the Gunners' fans to endure great stress. Now Arsenal's lead over the chasing group stands at six points, allowing them to prepare for the Liverpool match calmly and focused. The Merseyside side has so far only endured the acute phase of a crisis it fell into at the end of September last year. It is already clear that the Reds will not be competing for the league trophy this season. The January draws with Leeds and Fulham underscored the not-so-great state of affairs in Arne Slot's camp. Arsenal is now a more refined playing system, which will send Liverpool home with zero points.