# Liverpool v Arsenal: the first heavyweight of the month, and what Sunday says about the title race

*Anfield, Sunday 17:30 CET. Both clubs play in Europe three days later. Here is the week around the game, when the team news lands, and how to read it.*

Matches · Published 11:30 WAT, 30 Oct 2026 · Updated 10:15 WAT, 2 Nov 2026 · Match News (https://matchnews.news/ng/matches/liverpool-v-arsenal-first-heavyweight-of-november/)
By Matches desk · Reviewed by Fredrik Jurek

Liverpool v Arsenal, 17:30 WAT, 1 Nov 2026 (2026-11-01T16:30:00.000Z).
Prices at BettingBeast before kick-off, last captured 06:51 WAT, 1 Nov 2026. Percentages are the chance each price implied, before the bookmaker's margin. 18+ Home 2.97, Draw 3.49, Away 2.55.

Updated 07:10 CET, Sunday 1 November: Arsenal go top of the table if they win, after Manchester City lost 1-0 at home to Brighton on Saturday. City and Arsenal both have 21 points; Arsenal have played a game fewer. Liverpool, on 15, were passed by Chelsea on Saturday and sit fifth. The team news below is from the clubs' Friday press conferences, as published on Liverpool's website: Liverpool are without Jeremie Frimpong (muscle injury), with Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni long-term absentees, and Dominik Szoboszlai and Victor Munoz "have a chance", in Andoni Iraola's words. Arsenal are without Bukayo Saka (thigh) and the suspended Max Dowman; Mikel Arteta said Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori and Christos Tzolis were training and on course to be available, and that Noni Madueke would be checked. The official teams are due at about 16:15 CET.

Anfield on a Sunday evening is the fixture the first week of November is built around. Liverpool against Arsenal kicks off at 17:30 CET on Sunday 1 November, and whatever the table says that morning, it is the game both sets of supporters will circle.

## Why this one matters more than a normal Sunday

A title race in November is not decided by one result. What a game like this does is set the mood for a month. Win, and the next few weeks feel lighter. Lose, and every dropped point afterwards gets measured against it. That is why managers talk about "a big three points" without ever saying "decisive": it is not decisive, but it is heavy.

There is a second reason this weekend matters. Both clubs play in the Champions League three days later. Liverpool go to Istanbul to face Fenerbahçe on Wednesday 4 November at 18:45 CET. Arsenal travel to Prague to play Slavia the same night, also at 21:00 CET. A manager picking a team for Sunday is also, quietly, picking a team for Wednesday. That shows up in who starts, who comes off early, and who is rested altogether.

## The week around the game

| Date | Fixture | Competition | Kick-off (CET) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 1 Nov | Liverpool v Arsenal | Premier League | 17:30 |
| Wed 4 Nov | Fenerbahçe v Liverpool | Champions League, matchday 4 | 18:45 |
| Wed 4 Nov | Slavia Prague v Arsenal | Champions League, matchday 4 | 21:00 |
| Sat 7 Nov | Arsenal v Hull City | Premier League | 16:00 |
| Sun 8 Nov | Crystal Palace v Liverpool | Premier League | 15:00 |

Fixture times are from the Premier League and UEFA fixture lists and can still change. After the weekend of 7 and 8 November the league stops for the international break until 20 November, so this is the start of a short, dense stretch, not a one-off.

## When the team news arrives

Premier League clubs are not allowed to publish their starting eleven until 75 minutes before kick-off. For a 17:30 CET kick-off that means the confirmed teams appear at about 16:15 CET. Anything you read before then is a prediction, even when it is a good one. We will update this article when the official teams are out, and the "Updated" time at the top will change when we do.

Until then, the useful things to watch are the Friday press conferences, where managers usually say who is fit, and the Premier League's own availability notes, which clubs feed through their fantasy game data. We only print an injury or an absence when we can point to where it was said.

## How to read the market

A betting price is just a crowd's opinion written as a number. BettingBeast's prices, captured at 06:51 CET on Sunday, had Liverpool at 2.97 to win, the draw at 3.49 and Arsenal at 2.55. Decimal odds show what you get back for every unit staked, including the stake, so 2.55 means a return of 1.55 on top of each 1 risked. As rough chances, found by dividing 1 by the price, that is about 34% for Liverpool, 29% for the draw and 39% for Arsenal. The away side is the shorter price, which is unusual at Anfield and says the market rates Arsenal, the champions, a little above a Liverpool side that has drawn three of eight league games.

The price has barely moved all week. When the feed first captured this game at 13:54 CET on Friday, Liverpool were 3.06 and Arsenal 2.50. Liverpool shortened slightly to 2.97 on Saturday evening, stepped out to 3.03 overnight, and were 2.97 again at 06:51 CET on Sunday. The goals line, the total the market splits the match at, is 2.5, with over at 1.93 and under at 2.02, so the market sees this as close to an even call between two goals or fewer and three or more. That matters, because the handicap line, which gives one team a head start in goals, sits at level: the market does not expect either side to win by much. Prices move; the card on this page carries the latest and links to the live odds.

## What to look for on the day

Three things, in plain terms. First, the starting elevens: a full-strength side on both benches says the managers are treating Sunday as the priority over Wednesday. Second, the first twenty minutes at Anfield, which both teams usually try to survive rather than win. Third, the substitutions around the hour mark, which is where the midweek game starts to show.

We will have the confirmed teams, the result and a short report on what the market got right and wrong by Sunday night.

Correction, 2 November 10:15 CET: an earlier version gave Fenerbahçe v Liverpool on 4 November as 21:00 CET; the fixture feed has it at 18:45 CET, and both mentions have been changed. The confirmed teams promised above were not added before kick-off; the match report linked at the top carries the result.

## Sources

1. All 380 fixtures for the 2026/27 Premier League season (Premier League) https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/4675097/all-380-fixtures-for-202627-premier-league-season - Read 02:10 WAT, 30 Oct 2026
2. 2026/27 UEFA Champions League: all the league phase fixtures (UEFA) https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/02a8-2176fa83582b-d99f0b27f405-1000--2026-27-uefa-champions-league-all-the-league-phase-fixtures/ - Read 02:10 WAT, 30 Oct 2026
3. Premier League November fixtures: full schedule, dates and kick-off times (Soccergraph) https://www.soccergraph.com/2026/09/premier-league-november-fixtures-full-schedule-dates-kickoff-times.html - Read 02:15 WAT, 30 Oct 2026
4. Confirmed line-ups: when team news actually drops (On Tour Football) https://ontourfootball.com/news/confirmed-lineups-when-team-news-actually-drops-and-how-to-get-it-in-time - Read 02:20 WAT, 30 Oct 2026
5. Liverpool v Arsenal: Team news (Liverpool FC) https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/liverpool-v-arsenal-team-news-premier-league - Read 07:08 WAT, 1 Nov 2026
6. Man City 0-1 Brighton (Oct 31, 2026) Game Analysis (ESPN) https://www.espn.com/soccer/report/_/gameId/401879245 - Read 07:02 WAT, 1 Nov 2026
7. BettingBeast football prices, captured by this site's odds job (data/odds-series.json and data/odds-latest.json) (BettingBeast via Match News) https://matchnews.news/data/odds-series.json - Read 07:05 WAT, 1 Nov 2026

---
18+. Gambling involves risk and can be addictive. Please gamble responsibly. Odds links go to BettingBeast.
Match News is a football news site published by Checkraise Ltd. Every odds link on this site goes to BettingBeast. Articles are written with the help of an AI system and checked against the sources they cite; the responsible editor is named on every article.