Liverpool travel to Arsenal on Sunday for a blockbuster clash in the Premier League title race, though Reds boss Arne Slot is also having to monitor the future of Trent Alexander-Arnold
Liverpool will be hoping to be top of the Premier League on Sunday night but to do so they will have to beat title rivals Arsenal.
The Reds travel down to the Emirates, where they fell to a deserved 3-1 defeat last season. It is the biggest test of new boss Arne Slot’s reign so far, with his side still having only lost one game in all competitions under his watch.
Slot has hinted he could now change his tactics for the blockbuster clash with the Gunners. He is also having to deal with the uncertain futures of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
All three are out of contract in the summer, with Alexander-Arnold now naming the player he believes will replace him if he moves on. Here, Mirror Football rounds up all the latest Liverpool news.
Alexander-Arnold names replacement
Trent Alexander-Arnold has tipped Liverpool youngster Conor Bradley to replace him in the Reds’ line-up. Alexander-Arnold is out of contract at the end of the season and is tipped to join Real Madrid.
Now, un a Sky Sports interview, he was asked to pick the player with the most potential out of the Northern Ireland international, Ben Doak, Stefan Bajcetic or Harvey Elliott, with his answer telling. He replied: “I like to speak to all these kind of lads, [Jarell] Quansah involved as well.
“But I speak mostly to Conor obviously, being in the same position. I like to play 90 minutes but I know how good he is and I trust in him to get the job done and to help the team win the game.”
Cody Gakpo has urged his Liverpool side to get revenge on Arsenal for their defeat at the Emirates last season. The Netherlands international started that loss and is desperate to avoid more disappointment.
“That was a disappointing match in the end. It was a close game – they played very well, in my opinion. You know when you play against Arsenal, with the qualities they have, if you switch off for one or two moments then you know they can take advantage of that,” he told Liverpool’s website.
“That’s what they did in that game. We have to be ready for them and we have to stay switched on ourselves the whole game, stay focused and try to play our own game on the ball. Hopefully it’s going to be a good game for us.”
Slot hints at Arsenal change
Arne Slot has hinted Darwin Nunez will start against Arsenal and he will change his gameplan accordingly. Nunez had to make do with a place on the bench in the first few weeks but bagged the winner against RB Leipzig in midweek.
“We do adjust the gameplan to get the best from every player and as a result of that the best out of the team,” Slot said. “That’s defensively, but also offensively. Darwin is a different type of striker to Diogo [Jota], so we have to use his qualities there in the best possible way.
“He’s put a lot of effort in and that’s the first thing you can ask of a player. And it was also nice of him to score a goal against Leipzig. He’s very good and it’s pleasing to see that after a difficult start, Darwin performed well against Chelsea and Leipzig.”