Gary Neville believes Liverpool will come out fighting at Arsenal today - but the ex-Manchester United defender has thrown Jamie Carragher under the bus by revealing he thinks his former side will be 'blown away'.
The Reds go to the Emirates on the back of a convincing 2-0 Champions League win against Rangers in the week and Jurgen Klopp had decided to stick with the same 4-2-3-1 lineup that started that win. Domestic form has been far from promising, however, with Liverpool winning just two of their opening seven games to leave them 10th - 13 points behind Manchester City at the top and 11 short of today's hosts.
Klopp's side have had the better of the Gunners in recent years, winning all of the last four including a 2-0 win at the Emirates in March, but the tables have turned since the summer as Mikel Arteta's side go from strength to strength while Liverpool falter. But despite that slow start and glaring problems across the pitch, Neville believes the Reds will come out fighting and take the chance to prove their quality - although former Reds captain Carragher seems to feel less optimistic.
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"I think Liverpool will come out really fighting here today," Neville told Sky Sports before kick-off. "They’ve had a tough time but they’ve got such a great team, they play at a high level. This is a day for Liverpool to sort of say ‘we know what a good team we are’. I don’t think they’ll lose, I think it’ll be 2-2.
"However, Carragher did say to me earlier in the week - Liverpool fans won’t like me saying this - he did think that Arsenal could blow them away in the first half-an-hour. Liverpool have started games poorly and Arsenal have been brilliant at the start. So Carragher thinks you’ll lose Liverpool fans, I’m sorry."
Arsenal boss Arteta is without Oleksandr Zinchenko due to a muscle injury, and has opted to start Takehiro Tomiyasu - naturally a right-back - on the left of the four. The Gunners have lost just once this season, winning the remaining seven of their eight league games to leave them two points off City with today's clash their game in hand.
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