The standout fixture of round 21 of the 2025-26 Premier League season sees Arsenal and Liverpool lock horns at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday.
Off the back of a 3-2 victory over Bournemouth, the hosts are now six points clear at the top of the Premier League, 14 points clear of their visitors, who were held to [a 2-2 draw at Fulham last time out](https://footballtoday.com/2026/01/04/fulham-2-2-liverpool-reed-stunner-denies-reds-late-victory-at-craven-cottage/).
Having seen Manchester City drop points away at Sunderland two days earlier, Arsenal had the chance to further put themselves in the driving seat for the title against an out-of-sorts Bournemouth outfit in Saturday’s meeting.
A Gabriel error offered Evanilson the opportunity to fire Bournemouth ahead, but the Arsenal defender soon atoned with a goal at the other end.
Declan Rice then netted twice in the second half before Eli Junior Kroupi grabbed a late consolation strike to set up a frenetic finale.
To cap off a brilliant 24 hours, Mikel Arteta’s men then watched City surrender a late lead against Chelsea, leaving them six points adrift.
City will have the opportunity to temporarily halve that gap when they host Brighton & Hove Albion, and Arsenal will be keen to respond with a win over Liverpool.
The Gunners have not fared well in this fixture of late, winning just one of seven editions dating back to 2023.
However, they will head into the upcoming clash currently on a run of seven straight victories across all competitions since a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.
Thursday’s hosts also have the best home record in the division, having picked up 28 points from a possible 30.
For Liverpool, their title defence has not gone as planned, but getting one over the current champions-elect could spark a turnaround.
Arne Slot’s men claimed a 1-0 victory in the first meeting between the sides to inflict Arsenal’s first league defeat of the season.
Liverpool have not lost any of their most recent nine matches, albeit only managing two points from the last six available against Leeds United and Fulham, the second of which was due to a last-minute equaliser at Craven Cottage.
Despite an underwhelming campaign, the Reds are fourth in the standings, though they could be in sixth as kickoff on Thursday approaches, should both Chelsea and Manchester United win their respective matches later today.
Only three teams have conceded more goals on the road than Liverpool (18), and the visitors cannot afford another shambolic display at the back against an Arsenal side that have not only scored the joint-most goals at home (26), but also conceded the fewest (five).