Liverpool v Arsenal: free-scoring hosts meet a side that rarely concedes
Liverpool's goals against Arsenal's clean sheets, with recent form and five previous meetings that point towards a close contest at Anfield.
By Harvey Watkins,
The most useful thing to know before Liverpool host Arsenal at Anfield is that these two sides have arrived at their unbeaten runs by very different routes. Liverpool have scored 15 goals in their last five matches and conceded eight. Arsenal have scored nine and conceded three. One side has been winning shoot-outs, the other has been shutting games down, and Sunday's Matchday 9 fixture puts the two approaches against each other.
Liverpool's form
Liverpool have won four and drawn one of their last five, and the goals have flowed. A 6-3 win at LASK and a 4-3 home win over Villarreal account for ten of those 15 goals, but they also account for six of the eight conceded. Strip those two matches out and the picture is tighter: 2-1 at Brentford, 2-0 at home to Brighton, then a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Anfield on 28 October.
That Brighton win is their only clean sheet in the run. Liverpool have conceded in four of five, which is the detail that stands out most against an Arsenal side who have found goals hard to come by against them in recent meetings.
Arsenal's form
Arsenal are also unbeaten in five, with three wins and two draws. Three of those five ended without them conceding: 3-0 against Lille, 1-0 at Nottingham Forest and 2-0 at home to Everton. The two goals they shipped in a 2-2 draw at Bayern are the bulk of their concessions in this spell.
Their most recent outing was the least convincing, a 1-1 draw at Fleetwood Town on 27 October. It is one result and should not be overread, but it means neither side comes into this off a win.
Recent meetings
The five most recent meetings have been close, and lately very close:
- 8 Jan 2026: Arsenal 0-0 Liverpool
- 31 Aug 2025: Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal
- 11 May 2025: Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal
- 27 Oct 2024: Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool
- 4 Feb 2024: Arsenal 3-1 Liverpool
Liverpool are unbeaten in the last four, with one win and three draws. Arsenal's 3-1 win in February 2024 is their only victory across the five. Three of the five have been drawn.
The trend in goals is worth noting. The two most recent meetings produced a single goal between them, a 1-0 Liverpool win at Anfield and a goalless draw at Arsenal. That sits awkwardly with how freely Liverpool have been scoring, and fits rather better with Arsenal's recent run of clean sheets.
How it looks
The case for Liverpool rests on their scoring and on the head-to-head: unbeaten in four against Arsenal, and winners of the last meeting at Anfield. The case for Arsenal is defensive. They have conceded three in five, and Liverpool have kept only one clean sheet in the same period, so Arsenal have reason to think they can score.
Five matches of form is a small sample, and the heavier scorelines in Liverpool's run came against sides other than Arsenal, so it is hard to know how much they carry into this one. My view, held loosely, is that the recent meetings are the better guide: a tight game in which a draw would surprise nobody, and a Liverpool win is a little more plausible than an Arsenal one. Arsenal's defensive record is good enough that it would not take much for that to turn the other way.