Arsenal’s Premier League title credentials will be given another examination when they welcome Liverpool to the Emirates on Saturday, as the Gunners will be hoping to extend their unbeaten run to 13 games in all competitions.
The Gunners failed their first tests of the season against Manchester City and Chelsea but a run of form that saw them win 11 of their next 12 games has seen talk of a title challenge re-emerge.
However, the progress could be undone if they fail to send a message against Liverpool on Saturday.
Hector Bellerin is Arsenal’s biggest injury concern ahead of Saturday. The Spaniard was forced off with a muscular problem against Crystal Palace on Sunday and is unlikely to be risked in the midweek EFL Cup clash against Blackpool.
Speaking after the draw against Palace, Emery said he was unsure whether his right-back will recover in time for the visit of the Merseyside club.
Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac are to be assessed later in the week after recent thigh problems while Laurent Koscielny is still working towards full match fitness having only returned to full training last week.
Naby Keita and Jordan Henderson both missed the weekend win over Cardiff with a decision over the two to be made later this week.
Keita has not featured for the Reds since sustaining a hamstring injury while representing Guinea during the last international break.
Despite failing to beat Crystal Palace in their last league match, Arsenal has been excellent under new Coach Unai Emery.
The Gunners won 11 consecutive games in all competitions, with the chemistry and balance in their attack appearing irresistible.
Lacazette and Aubameyang arrived in north London with huge reputations, but it was unknown whether the pair would adapt their talents so they both could both start. It seems Emery has found the correct formula for the duo.
The two players have been directly involved in 14 goals in all competitions this term, giving the north Londoners an outside chance of Premier League glory.
Arsenal would not have been considered for league title success this season, but Emery has his side well drilled and firing.
Emery has clearly battled with his thoughts over who should be his No. 9, with Lacazette spending the opening matches on the bench.
However, Aubameyang’s ability to play in the left channel has solidified the Frenchman’s role as striker, and Arsenal are delivering a brand of football synonymous with their history with a fresh edge of sharpness.
Liverpool arrives in the capital with eight wins from their 10 Premier League matches, and the Reds haven’t even hit top gear yet.
Manager Jurgen Klopp has watched his side produce an improved defensive effort, while his famed attack has struggled to hit the heights of last season.
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane found the net as the Reds beat Cardiff 4-1 at Anfield, with the attackers providing a potential glimpse of what’s to come with the busy festive schedule nearing.
Saturday will mark the 225th meeting between the two Premier League giants. Liverpool has won 86 of those meetings compared to Arsenal’s 78 victories, with 60 draws over the years.
Liverpool are undefeated in their last six matches against the Gunners, last losing back in April 2015 when Hector Bellerin, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud got on the score sheet in a 4-1 thrashing.
Elsewhere, Manchester United got back to winning ways as they defeated Everton 2-1 at home, and the Red Devils now face a difficult trip to Bournemouth.
However, Chelsea welcomes Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with the Eagles only having two league victories to their name this term.
Reigning champions Manchester City face Southampton at the Etihad Stadium, with Tottenham Hotspur set to play Wolverhampton Wanderers on the road.
Possible Line-Up
Arsenal: Leno; Mustafi, Holding, Lichtsteiner; Monreal Torreira, Xhaka; Iwobi, Ozil, Aubameyang; Lacazette.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Moreno, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Lallana, Mane, Salah, Firmino.
Fixtures
EPL
Bo’mouth v Man Utd
Cardiff v Leicester
Everton
Newcastle v Watford
West Ham v Burnley
Arsenal v Liverpool
Wolves v Tottenham
Man City v Southampton
Chelsea
Hud’sfield v Fulham
SERIE A
Milan v Genoa
Napoli v Empoli
Inter v Genoa
Fiorentina v Roma
Juventus v Cagliari
Lazio v SPAL
Chievo v Sassuolo
Parma v Frosinone
Sampdoria v Torino
Bologna v Atalanta
Udinese v Milan
LA LIGA
Leganes v Atletico
Real Madrid v Valladolid
Valencia v Girona
Rayo v Barcelona
Eibar v Alaves
Villarreal v Levante
Sociedad v Sevilla
Huesca v Getafe
Real Betis v Celta Vigo
Espanyol v Bilbao
BUNDESLIGA
Stuttgart v Frankfurt
Leverkusen v Hoffenheim
Bayern v Freiburg
Augsburg v Nürnberg
Schalke v Hannover
Wolfsburg v Dortmund
Hertha v Leipzig
Mö’gladbach v Düsseldorf
Mainz v Bremen
LIGUE 1
PSG v Lille
Lyon v Bordeaux
Dijon v Nimes
Nice v Amiens
Strasbourg v Toulouse
Caen v Rennes
Reims v Monaco
Nantes v Guingamp
St-Etienne v Angers
Montpellier v Marseille
EPL
Team GP W D L F A GD P
Man City 10 8 2 0 27 3 +24 26
Liverpool 10 8 2 0 20 4 +16 26
Chelsea 10 7 3 0 24 7 +17 24
Arsenal 10 7 1 2 24 13 +11 22
Tottenham 10 7 0 3 16 8 +8 21
Bo’mouth 10 6 2 2 19 12 +7 20
Watford 10 6 1 3 16 12 +4 19
Man Utd 10 5 2 3 17 17 0 17
Everton 10 4 3 3 16 14 +2 15
Wolves 10 4 3 3 9 9 0 15
Brighton 10 4 2 4 11 13 -2 14
Leicester 10 4 1 5 16 16 0 13
West Ham 10 2 2 6 9 15 -6 8
C/Palace 10 2 2 6 7 13 -6 8
Burnley 10 2 2 6 10 21 -11 8
S’Ampton 10 1 4 5 6 14 -8 7
Cardiff 10 1 2 7 9 23 -14 5
Fulham 10 1 2 7 11 28 -17 5
Newcastle 10 0 3 7 6 14 -8 3
Huddersfield 10 0 3 7 4 21 -17 3
Serie A
Team GP W D L F A GD P
Juventus 10 9 1 0 21 7 +14 28
Inter 10 7 1 2 16 6 +10 22
Napoli 10 7 1 2 19 11 +8 22
Lazio 10 6 0 4 13 12 +1 18
AC Milan 9 4 3 2 18 13 +5 15
Fiorentina 10 4 3 3 16 8 +8 15
Sampdoria 10 4 3 3 14 7 +7 15
AS Roma 10 4 3 3 17 13 +4 15
Sassuolo 10 4 3 3 17 16 +1 15
Genoa 9 4 2 3 15 17 -2 14
Torino 10 3 5 2 12 12 0 14
Cagliari 10 3 4 3 9 11 -2 13
Parma 10 4 1 5 10 14 -4 13
Atalanta 10 3 3 4 17 12 +5 12
SPAL 10 4 0 6 8 13 -5 12
Udinese 10 2 3 5 10 15 -5 9
Bologna 10 2 3 5 8 14 -6 9
Empoli 10 1 3 6 9 15 -6 6
Frosinone 10 1 2 7 9 24 -15 5
Chievo Verona 10 0 2 8 8 26 -18 -1
LA LIGA
Team GP W D L F A GD P
Barcelona 10 6 3 1 28 12 +16 21
Alavés 10 6 2 2 14 9 +5 20
Sevilla FC 10 6 1 3 22 13 +9 19
Atletico 10 5 4 1 12 5 +7 19
Espanyol 10 5 3 2 14 8 +6 18
Valladolid 10 4 4 2 9 7 +2 16
Levante 10 5 1 4 16 15 +1 16
Getafe 10 4 3 3 10 8 +2 15
Real Madrid 10 4 2 4 14 14 0 14
Celta Vigo 10 3 4 3 17 13 +4 13
Girona 10 3 4 3 12 14 -2 13
Real Sociedad 10 3 3 4 12 13 -1 12
Real Betis 10 3 3 4 5 9 -4 12
Valencia 10 1 8 1 7 8 -1 11
Eibar 10 3 2 5 10 17 -7 11
Bilbao 10 1 7 2 11 15 -4 10
Villarreal 10 2 3 5 8 10 -2 9
Leganes 10 2 2 6 8 15 -7 8
Rayo 10 1 3 6 10 20 -10 6
Huesca 10 1 2 7 8 22 -14 5
LIGUE 1
Team GP W D L F A GD P
PSG 11 11 0 0 39 6 +33 33
Lille 11 8 1 2 20 8 +12 25
Montpellier 11 6 4 1 17 7 +10 22
Lyon 11 6 2 3 18 13 +5 20
Marseille 11 6 1 4 22 18 +4 19
Saint-Etienne 11 4 5 2 13 14 -1 17
Strasbourg 11 4 4 3 19 15 +4 16
Bordeaux 11 4 2 5 13 14 -1 14
Reims 11 3 5 3 7 10 -3 14
Nice 11 4 2 5 8 14 -6 14
Toulouse 11 3 4 4 10 19 -9 13
Angers 11 3 3 5 13 15 -2 12
Nantes 11 3 3 5 14 17 -3 12
Rennes 11 3 3 5 13 17 -4 12
Caen 11 2 5 4 10 14 -4 11
Nimes 11 2 5 4 14 19 -5 11
Dijon FCO 11 3 2 6 12 17 -5 11
Amiens 11 3 1 7 12 20 -8 10
AS Monaco 11 1 4 6 12 17 -5 7
Guingamp 11 1 4 6 7 19 -12 7
DID YOU KNOW
Since his Premier League debut in August 2015, no English midfielder has scored more goals (38) or provided more assists (26) than Dele Alli. Sealed.
For the first time in Premier League history, there are as many as three teams still unbeaten after 10 matches (Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea).
Spurs have won 34 Premier League matches when trailing at half-time – more than any other side in the competition’s history.
Since 1929, the only Real Madrid manager to manage fewer games in all competitions than Julen Lopetegui (14) was Jose Antonio Camacho in 2004 (6).
Riyad Mahrez has been involved in five goals in his last three Premier League appearances against Tottenham Hotspur (3 goals, 2 assists).
Raheem Sterling will make his 200th Premier League appearance tonight, aged 23 years & 325 days – only four players have reached the figure at a younger age (Wayne Rooney, James Milner, Cesc Fabregas and Gareth Barry). Experienced.
Tottenham have lost just two of their last 21 Premier League games at Wembley Stadium (W15 D4 L2), with one of those defeats coming at the hands of Man City in April (1-3).
2018-19 is the first time Real Madrid haven’t had a positive goal difference after 10 La Liga games since the 1947-48 campaign.
Manchester United have now scored 100 Premier League goals against Everton; only the second team to score 100+ goals against a single opponent in the competition (Arsenal: 107 v Everton).
Luis Suarez is the first player to score 3 goals in the Classico since Lionel Messi in March 2014.
Manchester United currently have a goal difference of -1 in the Premier League this season; the first time that they have had a negative goal difference after nine games of a league campaign since 1990-91.
Since the start of 2014-15, only Jamie Vardy (13) has won more penalties in the Premier League than Wilfried Zaha (11 – level with Raheem Sterling).
Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has now been directly involved in 22 goals in 23 Premier League games (17 goals, 5 assists).
Ross Barkley is the first Englishman to score in three consecutive Premier League games for Chelsea since Frank Lampard in February 2013.
Arsenal haven’t been leading a single Premier League game at half-time this season; being level on eight occasions and behind twice. Languid.
Luka Milivojevic’s penalty ended a run of 417 minutes (six hours, 57 mins) without a goal at Selhurst Park for Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Chelsea’s Ross Barkley has been directly involved in four goals in his last three Premier League games (two goals, two assists), as many as in his previous 22.
