Premier League 2018/19: 3 reasons why Liverpool will beat Arsenal

#3 Arsenal’s slow starts might catch up with them

Despite 7 Premier League wins, Arsenal have suffered from slow starts

Despite Arsenal’s good form as of late, winning 7 out of 10 games in the Premier League thus far, it’s notable that they’ve often struggled for success in the first half of their matches. They’ve hit an impressive total of 24 Premier League goals thus far – but worryingly, only 6 of those goals have come in the first half.

And worryingly for them, on the flip side, of the 13 goals, they’ve conceded, 8 of them have come in the first half. The Gunners have actually fallen behind in 5 of their 10 games, even if only Chelsea and Manchester City have managed to defeat them.

What does this mean for Saturday’s clash with Liverpool? Well, the Reds are known for coming out of the blocks quickly. They’ve scored 20 goals thus far, with 12 of them coming in the first half. Most notably, they performed a smash-and-grab job on Southampton in September, scoring 3 goals in the first half to kill the game dead before half-time.

Add in the fact that this will be the first time Arsenal have faced a genuine title rival since their first two games of the season – the two losses against Chelsea and Man City, arguably no coincidence – and they could be in deep trouble when they face Jurgen Klopp’s flying Reds, particularly if Salah and company get onto the scoresheet first.

The truth is that despite putting together some impressive performances, Unai Emery’s side haven’t really beaten a really strong side this season yet, and 3 of their wins have come against relegation candidates in Cardiff, Fulham and Newcastle.

Liverpool are the acid test for them come Saturday, and the likelihood is that they won’t be able to pass it.