By his personal admission, Arne Slot hasn’t had essentially the most daunting of begins to life as Liverpool head coach by way of the opposition that he’s confronted.
On Sunday, that may all change because the Reds go head-to-head with Arsenal, a group they’ll be hoping to affix within the Premier League title race this season.
The Merseysiders will go to the Emirates Stadium 4 factors away from their opponents, in order that they’ll nonetheless be forward of the Gunners whatever the lead to north London subsequent weekend, however a victory would open up a sizeable hole to Mikel Arteta’s facet by the quarterway mark of the marketing campaign.
In lots of situations, a draw away to a title contender could be considered as some extent gained relatively than two misplaced. Nevertheless, there’s a tantalising alternative for Slot and Liverpool to make a critical assertion if they’ll land a direct blow on a positional rival.
In distinction to the thrill-a-minute trip of Jurgen Klopp’s reign, the Reds have seemed extra managed below their new head coach. It’s an method which has served them very effectively to this point, however Sunday’s fixture represents the form of dilemma that one may get from a sport of poker.
Will Slot roll the cube and go for broke?
Does the Dutchman lean on the facet of warning and search in the beginning to protect the established order in a fixture the place some extent could be an appropriate outcome, or does he roll the cube and gamble on the potential jackpot of a probably season-defining victory?
Slot isn’t precisely a damaging coach within the mould of a Jose Mourinho, however he does seem like a pragmatist. Liverpool will goal a win, in fact, however it may very well be a case of fastidiously plotting their route to a few factors relatively than swashbuckling by means of Arsenal.
It’s now been simply over two years for the reason that Reds final beat the Gunners or Manchester Metropolis within the league, and whereas they misplaced solely a type of 4 head-to-heads in 2023/24, it’s a sequence that they’ll need (and possibly want) to deal with in the event that they’re to elevate the trophy at Anfield subsequent Could.
Circumstances have dealt LFC a comparatively variety hand subsequent Sunday as William Saliba might be suspended after his controversial crimson card at Bournemouth, whereas Martin Odegaard and probably Bukayo Saka will even be sidelined by means of damage.
A draw definitely wouldn’t be a foul outcome for Liverpool on the Emirates, but when they’ll strike the fitting stability between danger and reward and are available away with all three factors, it’d ship out the very clear message that they’re on this Premier League title race to remain.
