Liverpool's three-match winning streak in the Premier League was snapped last weekend, as Jurgen Klopp's side lacklustre performance against Manchester United at Anfield allowed Arsenal to leapfrog them back into first place.
The Gunners are next up, making the trip to Merseyside in what promises to be a frenetic and tension-filled encounter between two of English football's best.
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The hosts will be galvanised by the midweek mauling over West Ham United in the Carabao Cup – with the Hammers knocking Arsenal out earlier in the competition – and will know that a much-improved league effort is needed to clinch pole position at Christmas.
Joe Gomez's season in numbers
Starring in midweek, Joe Gomez will likely return to the bench this evening to pave the way for Trent Alexander-Arnold's return to the starting line-up, with the latter coming off the bench against West Ham to provide two assists and create four key passes.
Having been regularly criticised for his poor defending, as flimsy as plywood at times, the 26-year-old has been much better this season and has been noted for his “renaissance” by writer Joel Rabinowitz.
Performing all across the backline, Gomez's versatility and dynamism have been crucial in pumping fluency into Klopp's side, especially in allowing Alexander-Arnold to move further upfield in decisive moments.
However, starting him might not be the best option, with the aforementioned point possibly coming into play, slotting him into the defence in the second half.
In a more contentious selection choice, Klopp may well be inclined to relegate Colombian winger Luis Diaz to the bench after Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo demonstrated the effect they can have together in the frontline on Wednesday, with Mohamed Salah obviously retaining his starting spot.
Why Luis Diaz shouldn't start vs Arsenal
Diaz signed for Liverpool from FC Porto for an initial £37m in January 2022 and dazzled across the latter half of the 2021/22 campaign, scoring four goals and supplying three assists across just 13 Premier League matches.
Last year was ruined by injury, but this season, he has only scored three goals from 16 appearances in the Premier League – with two of those strikes coming across the opening two fixtures – and while he hasn't been poor by any stretch of the imagination, there are improvements to be made.
As per Sofascore, the £55k-per-week maverick has complemented his strikes with 1.1 key passes and 3.0 ball recoveries per game, also demonstrating his first-class crispness with an 81% pass success rate.
There has been a noticeable lack of impact recently though and against a defence such as Arsenal's, it might be wise to unleash Nunez at left wing as he was against the Hammers, where he created four key passes and looked a menace all evening.
It's important to remember that Diaz is a truly fantastic player and an indifferent run of form does not define him; having been lauded as a "game-changer" for his match-winning showing off the bench against Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this season, as was said by reporter Charlotte Coates, Klopp might be wise to unleash him in the second half today.