16:30 Sunday

The Premier League has served us up an early blockbuster game this weekend as champions Liverpool welcome last season’s runners up Arsenal to Anfield.

Both sides have taken maximum points from their opening fixtures, but they’ve done it in very different ways.

Arne Slot’s men relying on their attack outscoring the opposition, while Mikel Arteta’s Gunners looked controlled, compact, and defensively rock solid.

Arsenal’s recent resilience and summer reinforcements suggest they’ll arrive believing they can come away with something here, it’s the perfect time for them to come to Anfield whilst Liverpool’s defence has looked shaky.

It might be early on in the season but this game could end up meaning a lot if the title race comes close.

Macca's Liverpool vs Arsenal Best Bets

Ekitike Anytime Goalscorer @ 2.88 William Hill - Super Sub (1pt)

Ekitike has made a dream start at Liverpool, scoring in all three of his starts so far and looking a constant danger in attack. He’s exactly the kind of signing Liverpool needed, taking some of the load off Salah, who has been doubled up on towards the end of last season.

The underlying numbers are impressive too. Ekitike ranks in the 93rd percentile for non-penalty xG, 95th for xA, and sits in the high 90s across key attacking metrics like shots, shots on target, and touches in the opposition area compared to other forwards in Europe's big 5 leagues. Surrounded by creative outlets such as Florian Wirtz, Salah, and Cody Gakpo who combined for 40 assists in domestic competitions last season, he’s going to get plenty of service.

From a betting angle, I first looked at the score or assist market. Even money feels fair, but the standout is around the 2/1 mark on him to score anytime. With just 0.08 combined xA across his first two league games, his threat clearly leans towards goals rather than assists so far.

Mohammed Salah Assist @ 4.8 Coral/ladbrokes (widely available in the 4.33+ range) (1pt)

Sticking with the theme of goals, another way into this game is through the assists market. While Salah is always judged on his goals, his assist numbers are just as impressive and were a real source of value for me last season. He set up 18 in the league, underpinned by strong underlying data averaging 0.43 xA per 90 in 23/24 and 0.42 in the 24/25 campaign. 

With Liverpool now replacing Nunez with a more clinical finisher, Salah’s assist potential only increases. The market seems uncertain on how to price this angle, with odds varying widely across firms. That’s often a sign there’s value to be found. 

Salah provided the assist for the winning goal on Monday night in Newcastle and at 4.8 with Coral/Ladbrokes, 4.5 at Betfred and 4.33 with Bet365 (with their super sub promo), it looks like another generous price to get behind.