Liverpool, Arsenal face potentially season-defining match at Anfield

Liverpool face Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday in a match that could have a huge bearing on both sides’ seasons.

Few teams have managed to slow Liverpool’s unrelenting march to the top of the Premier League table. Arsenal are one of them.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were somewhat fortune to escape north London with their unbeaten record intact when the two sides met at the start of November. It was the clearest sign yet Unai Emery was making an impression at the Emirates.

A lot has happened in the weeks following that 1-1 draw. Liverpool haven’t dropped points since, winning eight from eight to take a firm grip of the Premier League title race. Arsenal’s progress hasn’t been so smooth, with Emery’s team now closer to seventh place Leicester than Liverpool at the top of the table.

This Saturday’s fixture at Anfield comes at a critical point of the season for both clubs, albeit for contrasting reasons. It’s too early for any one game to be classed as season-defining, but what happens on Merseyside this weekend could set the course for the remainder of the campaign.

With a six-point lead over second-place Spurs and a seven-point lead over Manchester City, Liverpool are threatening to run away with the title just as Pep Guardiola’s record breakers did last term. There was a moment on Boxing Day, as Liverpool were coasting to a comfortable win over Newcastle, when news of City’s defeat to Leicester swept around Anfield. Not for a generation had the belief in Liverpool’s title credentials been so strong.

Two wins from their next two games will see Liverpool open up a 10-point advantage on defending champions, City. That would surely be enough for them to be crowned de facto champions just a matter of days into the new year. This is why Saturday’s match, coupled with the one at City that will come the following week, is so significant.

Far from being potential runaway champions, Arsenal have faltered in recent weeks. They’ve won just one of their last four games in all competitions, falling out of the top four. Arsenal gave themselves a platform by putting four past Spurs in a derby earlier this month, but a slide since then has raised questions over the true extent of the progress made by Emery this season.

Defeat to Liverpool on Saturday could see Arsenal entangled with a resurgent Manchester United on the fringes of the top six. The Gunners can take heart from the way Chelsea have also toiled of late, but there’s a divide opening up at the top of the Premier League table as Liverpool, Spurs and City accelerate away from the rest. That leaves just one top four place up for grabs. Three — Arsenal, Chelsea, United — does not go into one.

Of course, despite recent stumbles, the development of this Arsenal side under Emery is clear to see. They have an identity again, becoming one of the Premier League’s most dynamic attacking outfits this season. There are parallels to be drawn between the early days of Emery’s reign and that of Klopp’s at Liverpool.

It took time for Klopp to iron out his team and now Emery is discovering something similar at Arsenal. The Spaniard must be shown patience just as Klopp was in the first two seasons of his Liverpool tenure. The Gunners must have faith in the decisions they have made, in the man they have turned to.

And yet a lot will be hinge on the outcome of Saturday’s match, which has the potential to be one of the games of the year just a few days before the calendar turns. By full time, both Liverpool and Arsenal will be a little clearer on what their season holds. On how their respective seasons might finish.