Arsenal icon Paul Merson believes Jurgen Klopp will rely on Darwin Nunez as William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes will make it ‘difficult’ for Liverpool in Saturday’s match.
The Gunners head to Anfield for a festive fixture to decide which of the teams tops the table at Christmas. Arsenal lead the Premier League standings through 17 games with a one-point advantage over Liverpool and Aston Villa. Manchester City are fourth, a further four behind.
Arsenal and Liverpool have so far established their title credentials on strong foundations as the sides with the best defensive records. No team has yet conceded fewer goals than Mikel Arteta and Klopp’s men (15). They also rank fifth (35) and third (36) for goals scored to date.
Arsenal stars William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes will make it ‘difficult’ for Liverpool
France enforcer Saliba has been an integral part of Arsenal’s defensive record, having played the most minutes (1,530) of any Gunners player in the Premier League so far this season. He and midfielder Declan Rice are also the only players Arteta has started in their 17 games yet.
Arteta recalled Gabriel for the fourth fixture of the term and has started the Brazilian in 13 of their following 14 games. The 26-year-old beside 22-year-old Saliba has also helped to six of the Gunners’ seven clean sheets so far, whilst conceding 12 times with both on the pitch.
Paul Merson tips Jurgen Klopp to trust Darwin Nunez to thwart Mikel Arteta’s star duo
Merson now expects Saliba and Gabriel to make it ‘difficult’ for Liverpool when Arsenal head to Anfield this Saturday. So, the Arsenal legend tips Klopp to be proactive and start Nunez as a counter-measure. He feels the Reds will need the attacker’s height to handle the Gunners.
“Klopp has a few big selection calls to make,” Merson told Sportskeeda. “I think he is going to keep playing Darwin Nunez because you need to have height in the team.
“They will need to make their set-pieces count and it’s going to be difficult against the likes of William Saliba and Gabriel without a physical presence like Nunez.”
Nunez has scored four goals and laid on five assists through his 16 Premier League games at Liverpool this season. The 24-year-old has also started 10 times, including eight of their last 10 fixtures. But Arsenal may not fear Nunez’s aerial presence if he again starts for Liverpool.
According to SofaScore, only Kai Havertz (33, 48.5%) has won more aerial duels for Arsenal in top-flight games this term than Gabriel (32, 65.3%) and Saliba (30, 56.6%). Yet Nunez (12, 35.2%) only ranks sixth for Liverpool. Gabriel and Saliba also rank fourth and fifth combined.
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