Arsenal and Liverpool lock horns again on Thursday in a battle we’ve seen countless times over the years.
Goals and drama were always all but guaranteed, so we’re taking a look at the people who have had the most impact in this fixture for both sides.
Thierry Henry
It’s not beyond the realms of comprehension that one of, if not the greatest Premier League striker we’ve seen, has a hatful of goals against the Reds.
Henry terrorised defences in the 00’s, and ours was absolutely on that list. Arsenal's golden boy lined up perfectly with their golden era, and it was a sensational and devastating sight.
He found the net against Liverpool a total of 8 times during his time at Arsenal, which puts him in the elite company of players who adored putting one on us.
He shares the glory with Andy Cole, Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy as the players in the Premier League era who’ve punished us the most. Elite company indeed.
But it wasn’t just Henry’s goals which made him a danger. He had the perfect mix of pace, flair and composure. It also helped that he had sensational playmakers around him, providing him with great chances.
The 00’s were a difficult time for Liverpool fans at times, and Thierry, with his va-va-voom, was one of the chief instigators to our despair.
Bobby Firmino
There isn’t a day that passes that I don’t miss Bobby Firmino. A silky footballer who oozed class and immediately fell in love with Liverpool and what we’re all about.
Endless articles can be written about our Brazilian magician, but he had a certain affinity when it came to Arsenal fixtures.
Bobby was in teams that were constantly challenging for league titles, whereas Arsenal were very much a ‘let’s get top 4’ team for the majority of his time at Liverpool.
Home or away, Bobby would turn up. Our free-flowing, high-intensity, ‘rock and roll’ football allowed for a lot of chances created and conceded.
Bobby would take full advantage of this by finding the net 11 times against the Gunners in his 8 years at Anfield.
Whilst Bobby is typically remembered for his deft touches and ability to see passes and moves no other human was capable of, it’s nice to see him remembered for his goal output in this particular fixture.
Never was the old adage more true of ‘give the ball to Bobby, and he will score’ than against Arsenal.
Andrey Arshavin
Imagine making an all-time Liverpool v Arsenal player list off the back of 90 minutes of football.
If you asked 100 Liverpool and Arsenal fans to name one player that stands out in the entire history of this fixture, I’d wager that over 60% would say Andrey Arshavin, but maybe I’m just showing my age.
For Arshavin’s Arsenal career, he was kind of a bit part player. Arrived with sensational expectations and whilst he never hit the world-class level we all thought he would, he certainly had world-class moments.
April 21st 2009. A random and unsuspecting Tuesday night. What happened on the Anfield turf that night, no one could have predicted, probably not even Andrey himself.
There are times in football where the stars align for a player, and they can do no wrong; that happened against us, and it happened to devastating effect.
We were pushing hard with United to try and pull in our first league titles in decades, but Arshavin had other plans.
Everything he touched was perfect. The game finished 4-4 with each of the goals coming from the plucky Russian.
He wrote himself into Anfield folklore that night. If you ever want to watch a 10/10 attacking performance from a footballer, go watch the highlights and allow yourself to get upset about what might have been that season.
Jurgen Klopp
It should come as no surprise that our greatest manager since Bob Paisley would have a great record against the ‘top 6’ during his time.
This was reflected in Jurgen’s Arsenal record. During the 22 times he was sat in a Liverpool dugout in this fixture, he walked away with some points 16 times, with 12 of those being wins.
Jürgen relished this fixture as he seemed to get the most success when teams would openly try to attack his line-ups. The number of high-goal games when these two clashed in his era would rival any other.
Jürgen regularly beat Wenger, Emery, and Arteta-led Arsenal teams, and we were always guaranteed a spectacle. Goals and drama were centre stage, and we’d, more often than not, walk away the victor.
Thursday will be a different affair entirely. I’m anticipating we won’t get the ‘rock and roll’ game we’ve been accustomed to, but in all honesty, the way this season is going, I’ll be more than happy with a point.