A much weakened Arsenal side welcome Arne Slot's Premier League table toppers to the Emirates on Sunday afternoon, with the Gunners missing William Saliba, and potentially Bukayo Saka too. They will also be without Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber, which will mean Arteta will have to shuffle his backline.
However, the Gunners are sweating on the fitness of Saka. "He has done a bit of training on the grass. How far we can get him to Sunday, that's another question," Arteta said during his Friday afternoon press conference.
With captain Martin Odegaard also set to miss the clash with an injury that has seen him miss Arsenal's last five Premier League games, the Gunners are significantly weakened to face Liverpool, something which Merson believes could lead to the Reds 'shredding' his former side to pieces.
"We said Liverpool hadn’t played anyone big until last week and they responded by winning against Chelsea," wrote Merson in his Sportskeeda predictions column. "That was their first major test and this is the next one. They couldn’t have asked for a better time than now to play Arsenal."
Merson added: "If you’re Liverpool, you could accept a draw but deep down inside, they’ll still be disappointed if they fail to win this game. If it was still Jurgen Klopp as manager, I could see Liverpool running riot here and Arsenal getting shredded to pieces with so many of their key players unavailable. Klopp always wanted to leave teams with a bloody nose in games like these, whereas Arne Slot is more controlled."
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