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Arsenal travel to Anfield at the ideal moment and can exploit Liverpool's defensive vulnerabilities to establish an early advantage in the Premier League title race. That's the view of Gary Neville, who has tipped Mikel Arteta's team to prevail on Sunday.
The reigning Premier League champions welcome the Gunners to Anfield at 4.30pm on Sunday in the most significant fixture of the campaign thus far. Both clubs boast flawless records following two matches, though Liverpool have certainly appeared the more inconsistent of the pair.
Arne Slot's team opened the season with a 4-2 triumph over Bournemouth, requiring two late strikes, before securing a dramatic 3-2 victory at Newcastle courtesy of Rio Ngumoha's 100th-minute winner. Arsenal, by contrast, defeated Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford before demolishing Leeds 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners have claimed runners-up spots in three consecutive campaigns and understand they must make a statement at Anfield on Sunday. Jamie Carragher delivered scathing criticism of Liverpool's display at St James' Park on Monday, yet expects his former side to edge Arsenal 2-1, reports the Mirror.
However, speaking on The Overlap,, Neville said: "I fancy Arsenal to win. I'm going to let him (Carragher) pick the score, but I think Arsenal will win. Arsenal to score two from set-pieces. It will be the land of the giants with Arsenal on Sunday.
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"He'll go with [Mikel] Merino, [Declan] Rice, [Martin] Zubimendi, then [Eberechi] Eze or [Leandro] Trossard, but he'll have the big back four, four or five in the box and they'll score from set pieces. I think Arsenal will score two from set pieces, Liverpool will score one and it will be 2-1 to Arsenal."
Arsenal icon Ian Wright is equally optimistic about his former side's prospects this weekend and echoed Neville's sentiments. "I think Liverpool will score one, but I'm going 2-1 to Arsenal," he declared.
"If that [Liverpool] defence did what they did against Bournemouth, we can win the game."
Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk has cautioned his teammates that they must raise their standards to overcome Arsenal. "I'm really looking forward to it," he remarked following the Newcastle victory.
"We're playing a fantastic team with a great manager that has been challenging for the Premier League for many years now as well. The games we played against each other are very intense as well. We have a week now to prepare and we will recover now and then we have to be ready.
"The Premier League has no easy games so it doesn't really matter who you are going to face - it is always going to be difficult, especially when we're at the stage we're at right now where the transfer window is still open."
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