Liverpool are looking to recover from their 3-1 humbling against Leicester when they welcome an Arsenal side in a Premier League clash that neither can afford to lose. The latter have also been inconsistent in recent weeks.

The last time the two sides met, Liverpool edged the Gunners 4-3 on the opening day. While plenty has changed since then, their propensity towards conceding has continued.

Both the Gunners and Arsenal have been put under pressure by arch-rivals Manchester United in recent weeks and while a result is difficult to call, the home side definitely enjoy an advantage.

Liverpool
Gone are the free-scoring early days, with their once-vaunted front-three of Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino shockingly quiet since the turn of the year.
While Coutinho and Mane have shown sparks of returning to their earlier barnstorming displays, Jurgen Klopp’s affinity towards Firmino is questionable as the midfielder fluffs his lines in front of goal on a regular basis. The onus is increasingly falling on the rapid Mane to deliver from the wing but there are limits to the African’s abilities and the likes of Adam Lallana must provide decent support if the Reds are to come out of their slump.

The second issue for Liverpool is their defence, which has never truly been solid to begin with, but when Lucas Leiva is called in to play as a central defender, you know you have problems.

Dejan Lovren is back in training and might just start, if Klopp deems it worth the risk. Ragnar Klavan is available for selection but the experienced defender is more of a liability than Lucas even. And the bad news continues as Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge (Again!) are ruled out of Saturday’s trip.

Arsenal
On the verge of an exit from the Champions League and once again flattering to deceive in the Premier League title race, the Gunners have been horribly inconsistent since the end of January.

A home loss to Watford and an embarrassing demotion by Chelsea have ignited fans calls for Arsene Wenger to leave the club. While that is a little extreme, the French manager’s methods have been questionable after some poor performances by top players in the big games.

Like Coutinho and co have been misfiring for Liverpool, Arsenal’s creator-in-chief, Mesut Ozil has been severely underperforming in the major games. But since he has been ruled out of the tie due to illness, can the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott step up in his absence?

The Gunners' problem area is their central midfield, with a bit of an injury crisis happening in that department. Santi Cazorla and Mohammed Elneny remain unavailable and while Granit Xhaka is eligible to play after serving a suspension, the rash midfielder may find it hard to cope with the frenetic pace Liverpool play at.

Super Stat: The last 30 Liverpool-Arsenal games have had a minimum of two goals, with just three notable exceptions ( A 0-0 draw and two 1-0 results) in a period spanning 12 years!