Liverpool vs Arsenal

On Thursday at Lincoln Financial Field, Liverpool and Arsenal will play a Premier League match as part of their American preseason tour before the 2024–25 season.

The Reds' preseason has started unevenly; they have won one and lost the two friendlies they have played, while the Gunners have won one and drawn the other two.

The Reds were still playing in all four competitions—the Premier League, FA Cup, Europa League, and EFL Cup—when Jurgen Klopp abruptly announced he would be leaving his position as manager of Liverpool at the end of the 2023–24 season. They were determined to give the legendary manager the send-off of a lifetime.

Their season did not live up to the tremendous expectations; they were eliminated in the quarterfinals of both the FA Cup and the Europa League, finishing nine points behind the champions in third place. Nevertheless, Klopp was awarded a winners' medal when his team defeated Chelsea in the EFL Cup final.

The difficult task of taking over for Klopp as manager has fallen to new boss Arne Slot, as the Reds are halfway through their first preseason without the German coach since 2015.

Slot, who made an impression at Feyenoord by leading them to third, first, and second-place finishes, had a challenging first game in charge of Liverpool. Despite fielding a team that included Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai, the team lost 1-0 to Preston North End in a private friendly.

Thanks to a goal in the first half by Szoboszlai and a dominant possession rate of 63% of the ball, they were able to defeat Real Betis 1-0 in their subsequent game, which demonstrated Liverpool's newfound tactical direction under Slot.

Since Liverpool is the only Premier League side without a first-team acquisition, Slot will have to make do with their incredibly good current roster while on their preseason tour.

They will play their third friendly against Arsenal, a team they faced off against in the previous season and were involved in a title battle with for a significant portion of it.

Last year, the Gunners lost the Premier League trophy race for the second time in a row, trailing Manchester City by five points in 2022–2023 and two points in 2023–2024.

Although Mikel Arteta's team led Pep Guardiola's team all the way to the last day, Man City easily defeated West Ham United to win the league for the fourth time in a row, setting a Premier League record, despite Everton's 2-1 triumph.

In the forthcoming season, Arteta will be driven to end Man City's domination and lead Arsenal to the Premier League championship for the first time since 2003–04; a demanding preseason schedule will undoubtedly get them ready for the task.

After defeating Bournemouth in a penalty shootout, the Gunners drew 1-1 in their first friendly before rallying from behind to stun Manchester United 2-1 in their most recent match.

Now that they have faced, lost, and drawn with Liverpool in the previous campaign, Arsenal will be preparing for a challenging matchup with them. They will also play Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon in advance of their season-opening matchup with Wolverhampton Wanderers.