MatchThe opposition lowdown: Arsenal

Recent form

The Gunners sit second in the Premier League table, having gathered 67 points from 35 fixtures to date.

They have, however, won just one of their last five top-flight matches, most recently suffering a defeat at home to AFC Bournemouth last weekend.

Mikel Arteta's men enter this game on the back of elimination from the Champions League on Wednesday, when they were beaten 3-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals by Paris Saint-Germain.

Key players

Arsenal's leading scorer this term is Kai Havertz, who has been sidelined since undergoing surgery on a hamstring injury in February.

He has netted on 15 occasions across all competitions, while Bukayo Saka has struck 12 times.

Leandro Trossard has chipped in with 10 goals to date, and Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri each have nine.

In terms of assists, Saka leads the charts with 14, three more than next-best Martin Odegaard. Declan Rice has provided 10 and Trossard eight.

Previous meeting

This season's reverse fixture ended in a 2-2 draw at Emirates Stadium in October.

Arsenal twice went in front as Saka opened the scoring early on before Virgil van Dijk swiftly equalised.

Mikel Merino then put the hosts ahead just prior to half-time but Mohamed Salah hauled the Reds level in minute 81 to earn a point.

Team news

Arteta did not discuss squad fitness when he spoke to the media ahead of his team's trip north, but the club's injury list has included Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Magalhaes and Takehiro Tomiyasu.

• Liverpool v Arsenal: Pre-match team news in full

What they said

Arsenal head coach Arteta

"It's about this season, it's about the amount of points that are still available to win at the end, and finishing in the position that we want and we have to do that.

"In the Premier League we've done a step backwards. With the points that we have created, it's clear that we haven't done as good as last season, that's obvious.

"They will hold that trophy and somebody has to come and take it out of their hands, and I'm sure that we're going to have a lot of contenders and very well-prepared contenders to raise their level again and make it very difficult."

Pre-match stats

• This game sees a match-up between the Premier League team with the best attacking record (Liverpool with 81 goals scored) and the one with the best defensive record (Arsenal with 31 conceded).
• The Gunners are looking to become the third team to avoid defeat home and away versus Liverpool this season, after Nottingham Forest and Fulham.
• Trossard has scored more league goals versus the Reds than he has against any other side (six) and is one of just three visiting players to net a hat-trick at Anfield, alongside Peter Ndlovu (for Coventry City in March 1995) and Andrey Arshavin (for Arsenal in April 2009).
• Each of the last two top-flight meetings between the clubs at Anfield have finished level, with the visitors taking the lead inside the opening 10 minutes in both. Never in history has there been three draws in a row in Anfield league clashes.