Isak and Barcola Start as Liverpool Host Arsenal at Anfield

Liverpool and Arsenal have confirmed their starting XIs for Sunday's Premier League meeting at Anfield, and the teamsheets carry a symmetry that will shape everything that follows: both sides line up in a 4-2-3-1.

For Liverpool, the headline selection is Alexander Isak, who starts in the forward line. Bradley Barcola also begins the match, giving the home side two direct attacking runners ahead of Alexis Mac Allister in midfield. Alisson Becker starts in goal. The shape is a 4-2-3-1, with the double pivot sitting behind a three and Isak leading the line.

Arsenal match the formation exactly. Bruno Guimarães starts in the visitors' midfield, anchoring the 4-2-3-1 and giving Arsenal a ball-progressor at the base of the double pivot. The Gunners arrive at Anfield as reigning Premier League champions, and their selection reflects a side set up to contest the middle third rather than sit off it.

Two 4-2-3-1s do not mean two identical plans. The formation gives both managers the same structural starting point — two holders, a three behind a lone striker — but the personnel point in different directions.

Liverpool's front line, with Isak central and Barcola offering width and pace, is built to attack space quickly. Mac Allister's role behind them is to connect the double pivot to that front three and to decide when Liverpool go direct and when they circulate.

Arsenal's version runs through Guimarães. With him at the base alongside a second holder, Arsenal have a midfielder comfortable receiving under pressure and turning away from it. That is the mechanism that makes the 4-2-3-1 work for the away side: if Guimarães can break Liverpool's first line, the three ahead of him can attack a back four that has been stretched.

The mirroring matters most in central midfield. Two double pivots facing each other can cancel out, leaving the game to be decided in the half-spaces and on the flanks. That is where Barcola's directness and Isak's movement become Liverpool's clearest route, and where Arsenal's ability to play through the middle becomes theirs.

Liverpool start a front line that can run. Isak and Barcola are both players who want the ball played into space ahead of them, and Mac Allister is the one who has to find those passes early. If Liverpool's double pivot can win the first ball and release Mac Allister quickly, the home side can attack before Arsenal's shape is set.

Arsenal's counter is control. Guimarães starting means the visitors have a midfielder who can slow the game when needed and speed it up when the moment arrives. Against a Liverpool side that will press, his ability to receive on the half-turn is the single most important detail in Arsenal's build-up.

The two 4-2-3-1s also create a clear pressing question. With both teams fielding a lone striker, the first line of pressure will be one-versus-two against the centre-backs. Whichever striker can occupy both defenders — or whichever midfield can jump forward without leaving the double pivot exposed — will decide where the game is played.

Anfield has historically been a difficult ground for Arsenal, and the head-to-head record reflects that: Liverpool have won 96 of the meetings between the clubs, with 67 draws and 83 Arsenal wins. That history does not decide Sunday's match, but it frames the stakes for a Liverpool side chasing the top four and an Arsenal side defending a title.

Kick-off is at 16:30 UTC at Anfield. Both teams have confirmed their line-ups, and both have chosen the same shape. The difference will be in who imposes their version of it first.