Only two Liverpool stars good enough to get into Arsenal team, says Ray Parlour

Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour says only two Liverpool players are good enough to get into the current Gunners team ahead of their clash at Anfield on Sunday.

Arsenal are eight points clear at the top of the Premier League while Jurgen Klopp’s erstwhile title challengers languish down in eighth and look set to miss out on the top four Champions League qualification places.

Parlour was asked to pick his combined XI based on current form and fitness, with his selection dominated by nine players from his former club. Only Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk made it in from Liverpool.

“Looking at current form, it has to be all Arsenal, except for Virgil van Dijk,” Parlour said. “I know he isn’t playing great, but you would get him in alongside Gabriel, no disrespect to Rob Holding, and with William Saliba currently out injured.”

The Gunners legend told NetBet: “You would also still have to find a spot for Mohamed Salah, but you can’t leave Bukayo Saka out and Gabriel Martinelli is playing well so it is an awkward one. But with Gabriel Jesus having recently come back from injury, I would put Salah up front over the Brazilian. You’ve got to get Salah in there somehow – he could play as a false number nine up front with Saka and Martinelli on the wing – as Jesus has only just come back.

“Liverpool don’t get many spaces. You’ve got Aaron Ramsdale in goal, I am happy with Ben White at right-back, he’s a good defender and has done so well this season, and at left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko has been brilliant. I love Andy Robertson, he’s a good player, but Zinchenko has been one of Arsenal’s best players in recent weeks. I’d certainly rather have White and Zinchenko over Trent Alexander-Arnold and Robertson.

“And in midfield, Thomas Partey has been excellent, and you can’t leave Martin Odegaard out the way he’s been playing. Nobody from Liverpool’s midfield gets in. Partey, Granit Xhaka and Odegaard, as a three, they work so well together, and I can’t see how the likes of Jordan Henderson or Fabinho get in the way they are playing.”