THE marquee match of the weekend in the Premier League will see Arsenal entertain Liverpool at the Emirates on Sunday.
The two sides are currently separated by two places and five points in the top-flight standings, either side of Man City who travel to Brentford on Monday night.
After stumbling into the new year off the back of consecutive defeats against Fulham and West Ham, the Gunners have got their title tilt back on track with wins over both Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.
However, the acid test comes this weekend for Mikel Arteta’s men when they go up against league leaders Liverpool.
The Reds restored their five point lead at the summit of the standings by ruthlessly cutting apart Chelsea 4-1 on Wednesday night, in a game that brought up my Bet Builder.
Jurgen Klopp’s side emerged victorious from this venue with a 2-0 success in the FA Cup just last month and they will now look to repeat the feat when they return to North London this weekend.
Outright Betting
Despite failing to defeat against Liverpool in their previous two attempts this season, Arsenal are 6/5 favourites at Bet 365
The reverse Premier League fixture between the pair ended all square and the same outcome on Sunday can be backed at 13/5 (Bet 365) while a Liverpool triumph is trading at 21/10 (Bet 365).
Betting Angles
Given what's at stake here, I’m going to swerve the outright markets and instead opt for another player-based Bet Builder, with both Alexis Mac Allister and Declan Rice to commit a foul holding appeal at 10/11 (PaddyPower).
Reds midfielder Mac Allister has been one of Liverpool's most prolific hatchet-man this season, picking up five yellows and one red card across his 17 top-flight appearances to date.
As such, the Argentine midfielder has averaged 1.6 fouls per-game in the Premier League this term, being penalised at least once in 14 of his 17 outings.
Moving into Arsenal's midfield I'm also prepared to back Declan Rice to get on the wrong side of the referee at least once during this dust-up.
The all-action England international is averaging just a shade under one foul per 90 in this league this season, though he has been reprimanded at least once in each of his previous two encounters with Liverpool this term.
With all that in mind, backing the above-mentioned pair to each commit a foul at 10/11 (PaddyPower) stands out in what should be a fiercely competitive midfield battle.
Going back to the aforementioned Mac Allister, I’m also happy to side with the Liverpool man to commit two or more fouls here at 10/11 (PaddyPower).
The World Cup winner racked up no fewer than four fouls against Chelsea last time out so siding with 2+ on Sunday looks worth taking on at a shade under even-money.
This English Premier League match between Arsenal and Liverpool will be played on Feb 4, 2024 and kick off at 16:30. Check below for our tipsters best Arsenal vs Liverpool prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
