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The table toppers Liverpool welcome Unai Emery's Arsenal to Anfield as the festive fixtures are set to resume on Saturday. Jurgen Klopp will be looking to extending their undefeated streak to 20 and march towards their dream of winning the league this year, while Arsenal aims to stabilise their campaign with an improvised display away from home.
The Reds' defensive performances have been phenomenal throughout this season, conceding only 7 goals in 19 matches in the league. Despite this, they will be wary of the attacking threat possessed by the Gunners, who have scored 41 goals so far, only two less than the league leaders.
There is no doubt that both managers will be deploying their best eleven and here are the three key battles which will decide the outcome of this decisive fixture of the game-week 20.
#3 Mohamed Salah vs Sokratis
Mo Salah has shrugged off his slow start to the season and is currently on a red-hot goalscoring form which is a major worry for the Gunners' defenders, who have to be at the top of their game in order to keep the Egyptian silent throughout the 90 minutes.
Salah is just one goal behind Aubameyang in terms of goals scored and could take this as a perfect opportunity to go past the Gabonese Striker.
With Salah enjoying a much central role in recent games, Sokratis will be provided with the task of handling the Egyptian. While the Greek international is blessed with several crucial attributes of a defender, his lack of pace to track Salah could prove to be a disadvantage for the Gunners.
Liverpool has the ability to launch quick counter attacks and if Sokratis switches off for a second, he would be seeing Salah in a goal scoring position ahead of him. Hence, there is no place for a lack of concentration tomorrow when the defender is up against one of the Premier League's best players.
#2 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang vs Virgil van Dijk
With 13 goals in the first half of the season, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is leading the race for the league's top scorer currently. The Gabonese striker continues to threaten the opposition with his pace and finishing, which has earned him the top-scorer status in the league.
However, he will be facing his toughest test tomorrow as he will be up against one of the best defenders in the world - a man who is enjoying his current run of form. Virgil van Dijk, the defensive tower at the back, will take the responsibility of handling the forward who loves to get into goal-scoring positions and has an eye for the goal.
Even if the Gunners' striker manages to get the better of the steady back-line of Liverpool, it will not be an easy task to find the back of the net past Allison. The Brazilian has already kept 12 clean sheets and will once again prove to be a tough nut to crack for Aubameyang in front of goal.
#1 Robertson and Arnold vs Lichsteiner and Kolasinac
One of the vital reasons for Liverpool's successful campaign has been the splendid performances of their full-backs. Andy Robertson, in particular, has been instrumental in the Reds' wins so far, this season.
This duo has been involved in 7 goals directly apart from fulfilling their defensive duties by securing 12 clean sheets in 19 games. Jurgen Klopp has made perfect use of the attacking threat these two possess by providing them full freedom to join the attacks and get into goal scoring positions.
The overlapping runs made by these two have been troubling the defences, which in turn has created more space for the attackers to pick their passes or make an attempt for a goal. These two have been blessed with exceptional crossing abilities and have managed to pump in a combined 150 crosses into the box so far this season.
Having said that, it is going to be tough to contain these two for an Arsenal side which has already been hit with a couple of injuries to its key players at the back, including the likes of Mustafi and Hector Bellerin.
