Reigning English Premier League champions Liverpool take centre stage once again in the third round of fixtures, as they host Arsenal at Anfield on Monday night.
The Reds proved too strong for supposed EPL title rivals Chelsea last Sunday, purring to a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge thanks to a Sadio Mane double.
It was a welcome clean sheet for boss Jurgen Klopp, too, with his side having conceded three in a helter-skelter opening win over promoted Leeds.
Thiago could make his full Premier League debut after signing from Bayern Munich, with Fabinho primed to slot into defence if Joe Gomez fails to shake off a knock.
Jordan Henderson limped off last time out but is expected to feature at Anfield.
Something will have to give on Merseyside, with both sides going into the weekend as two of five clubs with maximum points from their opening two fixtures.
Arsenal were made to work hard for their 2-1 London derby success over West Ham last Saturday, with Eddie Nketiah sealing three points five minutes from time after Alexandre Lacazette’s first half goal had been cancelled out.
Mikel Arteta’s men had swatted Fulham aside on the opening day, leaving their corner of the capital twitching with cautious optimism after a tricky few seasons.
Now comes their first big test at the home of the Premier League kings, with a host of injuries to contend with.
Calum Chambers, Gabriel Martinelli and Shkodran Mustafi are all among those ruled out, with Kieran Tierney and Sokratis doubtful for the Anfield clash.
Liverpool vs Arsenal: Prediction
Prediction methodology explained.
The expected win percentage is based off publicly available odds. For example, if a team’s odds are 2.30, the expected chance of winning is 43%. If the odds are 1.62 the expected chance of winning is 62% and so on. These are accurate at the time of writing but are subject to change. Where there is no value listed, the odds were not available at the time of writing.
Liverpool vs Arsenal: Line-up predictions
Probable Liverpool Starting XI: Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Jordan Henderson, Thiago, Georginio Wijnaldum, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane.
Probable Arsenal Starting XI: Bernd Leno, David Luiz, Gabriel Magalhaes, Kieran Tierney, Hector Bellerin, Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos, Bukayo Saka, Willian, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.