Jurgen Klopp has an almost full compliment of players to choose from for Sunday’s Premier League humdinger with Manchester City after Mo Salah and Dominic Szoboszlai came on as second half substitutes in Liverpool’s 5-1 annihilation of Sparta Prague in the Europa League. The Anfield boss will certainly not use the absence of injured trio Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander Arnold as an excuse as the 19-time champions defend a precarious one point lead atop the standings.
Cityzens boss Pep Guardiola is widely regarded as the benchmark on which other tacticians measure themselves but the German has given the Catalan football alchemist’s teams a good ride for their money with Klopp leading the head to head record in confrontations between the pair with eleven wins to ten.
Trips to Liverpool’s Anfield cauldron are especially bitter for Guardiola who is seeking an unprecedented four title in a row. The defending champions will enjoy the benefit of two extra days of rest and fresher players as Guardiola chases what would be only his second victory in nine visits.
Arsenal can take temporary leadership of the table if they overcome Brentford on Saturday. The Gunners are in blistering form with Monday night’s 6-0 victory at Sheffield United their seventh straight in the division. The 31 goals bludgeoned by Mikel Arteta’s trigger happy side since the turn of the year is the highest total by any team in Europe’s top five leagues.
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The Emirates Stadium supremo will resist the temptation to rotate his winning side despite the added pressure of Tuesday’s Uefa Champions League rubber with FC Porto in which the Gunners must overturn a 0-1 deficit. Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli will once again carry goal scoring responsibilities.
Another fascinating contest takes place at Villa Park where Unai Emery’s fourth placed Aston Villa side will try to create distance from Ange Postecoglu’s Tottenham Hotspur. The Villans drew a rare blank in Thursday’s Europa Conference League game at Ajax Amsterdam but they should come out all guns blazing if the team’s most creative players Leon Bailey and Douglas Costa are restored to the starting line up.
SATURDAY
Manchester United v Everton,
Crystal Palace v Luton Town,
Bournemouth v Sheffield United,
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Fulham,
Arsenal v Brentford
SUNDAY
Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur,
West Ham United v Burnley,
Brighton v Nottingham Forest,
Liverpool v Manchester City
MONDAY
Chelsea v Newcastle United
WEDNESDAY
Bournemouth v Luton Town
