Zinchenko out, Tierney in? Arsenal team news, predicted XI and key man vs Liverpool

Arsenal are in good shape heading into Sunday’s game.

Emile Smith Rowe and Mohamed Elneny are the two long-term absentees and they will remain sidelined until after the World Cup.

Oleksandr Zinchenko is a doubt. He was not part of the squad against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League and did not train earlier in the week having limped away from the stadium following the north London derby.

Arsenal will make a late call on the Ukraine international. If he is not deemed fit enough then Kieran Tierney will come in at left-back.

Mikel Arteta rotated his squad massively for the Europa League game on Thursday night, leaving out a host of his senior players.

But they will all return on Sunday as the Gunners look to build on their impressive start to the Premier League season.

There’s been lots of talk ahead of the game about whether Arsenal are ready to mount a serious challenge for the title.

But a lot of that talk has been somewhat premature.

Whilst the victory against Tottenham in the north London derby was impressive, beating Spurs at home is hardly a rare occurrence for Arsenal.

In fact, they have beaten their neighbours on home territory in five of their last six league meetings at the Emirates.

So that 3-1 success on its own does not make them serious contenders. Victory against Liverpool, however, would be a different story.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have won six of the last seven Premier League meetings between the sides and also came out on top in the League Cup semi-final last season, winning 2-0 in north London.

So if Arsenal could get the victory this time around then that would be far more of a statement in terms of what it could mean for the rest of the season than the win over Spurs last weekend.

It would also see them move 14 points clear of Liverpool in the league table, which even at this early stage of the season would be a very big gap to try and close.

When asked by reporters whether Sunday's game was a chance for Arsenal to make a real statement about their ambitions this season, Arteta said: "Every game is the same. It is a big match.

"It is a fixture everyone is looking for against an opponent that has shown in the last five to six years the level that they have.

"We have to show against this opponent that we have raised the level and we are ready to compete against them.

"I am very conscious we can get much better than we are today and there are a lot of aspects that we have to do better to be the team we want to be.

"The challenge now is to do it every three days."

From an Arsenal perspective, it has to be Gabriel Jesus.

Can he get the better of Virgil van Dijk and set the tone for the rest of the team to follow in terms of his pressing and work rate from the front?

Liverpool have looked shaky at times in defence this season and if Jesus can disrupt the backline and pull them out of position, that will be vital to Arsenal’s hopes of getting a result.

Jesus has been sensational since joining Arsenal, scoring five goals, but this will be his toughest test to date.

Liverpool will know that if they can keep the Brazilian quiet, then they will nullify the most potent part of the Arsenal attack.

And that will allow them to try and take control of the game and get their danger men on the ball.

4-3-3: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.