Premier League champions Liverpool host Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday with next season in mind.
WATCH — Liverpool v Arsenal
With the title wrapped up, Arne Slot decided to give plenty of fringe players a chance to start in the 3-1 defeat at Chelsea last weekend. Some fared better than others and we are likely to see more of the same against Arsenal. Slot is aiming to see who he can keep around for next season and where Liverpool need to strengthen over the summer. He will get a very good idea of that on Sunday against the team who were the only real contenders for the title this season.
Arsenal head to Anfield feeling low after their 2-1 defeat at PSG (3-1 on aggregate) on Wednesday saw them exit the Champions League at the semifinal stage. Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal were the best team in the Champions League this season, and he might be right. But they came up against a brilliant Gianluigi Donnarumma who made a string of fine saves across the two semifinals and that was the difference. In the Premier League Arsenal have won once in their last five games as their grip on second place is in doubt, and they do need one win from their final three games to secure Champions League qualification. They will also provide Liverpool a guard of honor onto the pitch on Sunday which will hurt the players and Arteta as they’ve come up short in the title race for a third-straight season and this time, mostly due to injuries, it hasn’t been close.
How to watch Liverpool vs Arsenal live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 11:30am ET Sunday (May 11)
Venue: Anfield — Liverpool
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
Liverpool team news, focus
We can expect Quansah, Tsimikas, Endo, Elliott, Jones and Jota to start once again as Slot is giving them a chance to prove themselves ahead of a big summer. It’s expected that Liverpool will spend big to strengthen in certain areas and left back, center back and up top are certainly three areas where they can improve. Mohamed Salah is still going for plenty of records and will be desperate to score a couple to set up a big final few games for his stats.
OUT: Joe Gomez (thigh – MORE) | QUESTIONABLE: Conor Bradley (knock)
Arsenal team news, focus
It’s very likely Arteta will make plenty of changes after the energy Arsenal used on Wednesday. We should expect Ben White, Kieran Tierney, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri and Raheem Sterling to start. Arsenal know they’ll qualify for the Champions League barring a miraculous run of results against them and finishing in second isn’t a big deal. Arteta would rather avoid having some big players like Rice, Saka or Timber being out injured.
OUT: Gabriel Magalhaes (hamstring – MORE), Kai Havertz (hamstring – MORE), Gabriel Jesus (torn ACL – out for season), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) | QUESTIONABLE: Jorginho (chest)
Liverpool vs Arsenal prediction
With all of the changes it’s tough to predict how this will go. But it feels like it will be a routine home win and Salah will do the damage. Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal.
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