Arsenal vs. Liverpool in the FA Cup: here we go again

 Arsenal will face Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup. The Gunners are in a slump, having dropped to fourth in the Premier League table after taking the lead in mid-December. Liverpool leads the league after going unbeaten since a contentious loss to Tottenham at the end of September. The two teams tied 1-1 just before Christmas and will meet again in early February.

WHAT TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR

Surprisingly, the latest Premier League match between the two teams at Anfield was played at Liverpool's favoured tempo rather than Arsenal's. That could have happened for a variety of reasons, including: Liverpool are a very strong team capable of forcing their style on matches, Arsenal may have been willing to play a faster game in the hopes of finding more space on the flanks for Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli to launch the assault, the Anfield home crowd may have also had a factor, and so on.

Will Mikel Arteta try to slow down the pace of play and return to the grinding, stifling approach that Arsenal has used for the majority of the season? Mo Salah's absence from AFCON due to international service may force the issue. The Egyptian is a big part of why Liverpool is so threatening on quick-break attacks. With Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota, the Reds have plenty of wide attacking quality, but Salah is world-class. His absence will be noticed.

Liverpool will also be missing center-backs Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo. Both performed admirably against Arsenal at Anfield, contributing significantly to the match being played at Liverpool's pace. Without that combo in the midfield, Declan Rice and Martin degaard may be able to dominate the flow of the game more effectively.

NEWS FROM THE TEAM

Arsenal will most likely be without Gabriel Jesus, who suffered a knee injury earlier this week. The team believes it isn't significant and has nothing to do with his past knee problems, but it's too early to know. He's unlikely to be risked for a cup match, especially with the Gunners not playing for another two weeks. The availability of Oleksandr Zinchenko is in doubt. Mikel Arteta stated that the Ukrainian has been training and that the squad will make a late judgement on whether or not he is fit to play.

Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mo Elneny are unable to play owing to national team commitments at the AFC Asian Cup and AFCON, respectively. Fabio Vieira's return is still many weeks away. The rumours that Thomas Partey would be returning shortly were incorrect. Mikel Arteta stated that the Ghanaian is still a long way from being fit. Jurrien Timber will be out for at least two months as well.

MATCHUP KEY

The battle between Bukayo Saka and (presumably) Joe Gomez on Arsenal's right and Liverpool's left could decide the game. Injuries to Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas have forced Jurgen Klopp to start Gomez at left back, despite his preference for playing in the middle or on the right. Saka has been Arsenal's best and most effective attacker this season, although he has yet to regain his previous level. The Gunners' faltering attack is most certainly a contributing factor. Despite Arsenal's failure to score goals, the underlying offensive metrics have been improving.

Liverpool, too, has a long injury list. Dominik Szoboszlai is the latest player to return to training after suffering a hamstring injury against Newcastle. Kostas Tsimikas, who reportedly injured his collarbone against Arsenal, uploaded an Instagram photo of himself in individual training with the comment "not long now" A broken collarbone is typically a 6 to 8 week injury, thus this post is unusual.

Andy Robertson is still out after having surgery to fix a dislocated shoulder. Jurgen Klopp estimated he'd be sidelined until the end of the month. Thiago is currently healing from a hip injury that has kept him out for the entire season and has yet to return to training. Stefan Bajetic is out with an adductor injury, which sounds similar to the one that required surgery to fully heal for Emile Smith Rowe. Joel Matip will miss the rest of the season due to an ACL tear.

Mo Salah is with the Egyptian National Team at AFCON. And Wataru Endo is with Japan at the AFC Asian Cup.

LINEUPS

Arsenal's starting lineup is as follows: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Rice, Jorginho, degaard, Saka, Nelson, and Havertz.

Alisson, Gomez, Konate, Diaz, Nunez, Mac Allister, Jones, Gakpo, Elliot, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Liverpool