Liverpool boss Arne Slot says Arsenal are world-class in one key area

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Liverpool can lay down an early marker in this year’s Premier League title race with a win against Arsenal at Anfield.

Both sides boast perfect records heading into the clash on Sunday, and either could establish themselves as early front-runners for the Premier League title.

The Reds have looked fragile at the back after the opening two fixtures, the side have squandered a two-goal advantage in both games, relying on Rio Ngumoha to score a late winner against Newcastle United last time out.

Arsenal have not won at Anfield since 2012, and Mikel Arteta started on the day. Now, Chris Sutton backs the Gunners to win on Merseyside.

Arne Slot had nothing but praise for Arsenal ahead of the clash and went as far as to say they are “one of the best teams” in the world in regard to one key aspect.

Arne Slot says Arsenal are “one of the best teams”

When speaking to Sky Sports, Slot revealed what he was expecting of Arsenal heading into the Anfield showdown and believes no other side can play out from defence as well as Arteta’s side.

“You definitely can, and had a lot of time to work with the team. Because if you start with a team, you may maybe start either with attack or defense, but it’s more the basic things that you try to get across to the players, where you see so many little details with them being, in my opinion, worked on, and I’m quite sure about that.

“So Arsenal can play out from the back as one of the best teams in the league. But like they did against Paris Saint-Germain, for example, in the away game, they played almost a similar style that Newcastle played against us.

“So every throw went in the box, long balls, so they can play different styles. And that’s also a sign where you see, oh, you had a lot of time to work with your team, but he also used that time to work with his team, because they can play so many different playing styles.

“So maybe we can expect the same, but maybe we can also expect them, yeah, to be like (Manchester) City was for so many years, because they can, they can do every style.”

One of the main storylines heading into the fixture will be Martin Zubimendi’s first appearance at Anfield – the Spaniard rejected a move to Liverpool last summer before arriving at the Emirates in July.

However, Rio Ferdinand admitted he wants to see “hugely talented” duo Ngumoha and Max Dowman get minutes on Sunday after they both made an impact on their senior league debuts.

Liverpool have failed to beat Arsenal on their last three visits to Anfield, and although the result had little consequence in the title race last term, a win against Arteta would be a welcome boost heading into the international break.

Ibrahima Konate must rediscover his best form against Arsenal

Ibrahima Konate has been identified as a weakness for Arsenal to exploit; the defender has been suspect throughout both of the team’s opening matches this season.

The 26-year-old looked a shadow of his former self against Bournemouth and Newcastle, but he cannot continually rely on his teammates to bail him out of trouble.

Although Arsenal will be significantly weaker without Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, and Martin Odegaard on Sunday, there are still plenty of attacking threats who may very well target Konate.

With Giovanni Leoni on the bench, Slot has the option to pull Konate out of the firing line if he underperforms once again on Sunday, but the Liverpool supporters will hardly be as forgiving if the defender costs his side the three points.