The first of Arsenal's insanely difficult group of matches begins on Saturday with a trip to a happy hunting ground - Anfield - against a Liverpool side full of goals and two goalscoring machines.
Where to Watch Live
The game is scheduled for a 12.45 pm GMT (6.15 pm IST) start with live coverage on Star Sports 4 and Star Sports HD2. The match can also be watched via live streaming online in India HERE. Catch the action live online in the UK HERE. Viewers in the US can live stream the game HERE, while Australia viewers can catch the action HERE. The match can be live streamed in the Middle East and North Africa HERE, while the rest of Africa viewers can catch the action through live streaming HERE.
The Gunners kept a two point lead at the top of the English Premier League table after Manchester City suffered a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Monday night, and Arsene Wenger's men can bulge that gap to five points with three vital points at Liverpool on Saturday.
February is a make or break month for Arsenal, with the Liverpool match followed by a Premier League fixture at home against Manchester United on Wednesday, before Liverpool pay a visit in the FA Cup next weekend. Those games are followed by that epic Champions League last 16 first leg against Bayern Munich.
"We'll have to wait until the end of February to have the exact idea of who will fight for the Premier League," Wenger said. "It's an important month for many teams and maybe we will need a bit of patience.
"Still, it is a good moment for us to win a big game because we have a tough predicted month. At the moment we are on a good run and the best way to continue that is to keep the confidence level high and, of course, stay in a strong position in the title race."
Arsenal have won three of their last four Premier League games at Anfield, with the latest one coming courtesy a 2-0 win last season. Two-nil was also the scoreline in the reverse fixture at the Emirates earlier this season, with the impeccable Arsenal defence shutting out the SAS partnership Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. Wenger has no doubts doing the same yet again will be key to the Gunners walking away from Anfield with all three points.
"We need to dominate the game in order to keep Suarez and Sturridge quiet," Wenger added. "We must control possession. I think Liverpool are strong offensively with Sturridge, Suarez, [Philippe] Coutinho, [Raheem] Sterling and [Steven] Gerrard.
"We had some good wins at Anfield. I have a lot of respect for the fans there, they know their football. Liverpool are in a better position than to when we last played them. They have momentum with them."
Eight points separate fourth-placed Liverpool from top of the table Arsenal, and Reds manager Brendan Rodgers sees Saturday as the perfect opportunity to get right back in the title race.
"There are points up for grabs and if we can get all three, it gets us to within five points of Arsenal," Rodgers said. "That's our only expectancy -- we expect now to go and perform and to win. We recognise and respect Arsenal as an opponent -- they're top of the league at the moment and we're chasing them down.
"For us, it's really about focusing on our own game and playing with the intensity and quality that was in the Everton game [a thumping 4-0 win], which was outstanding. If we can deal with that pressure of a derby game, play at that level of football and give that performance, the result will take care of itself."
Team news: Liverpool: Mamadou Sakho remains sidelined with a hamstring problem, and the match comes too early for Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson, with Rodgers expecting the experienced defensive duo to return to training next week.
Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey remains a major miss for the away side, but Wenger could welcome back Jack Wilshere, after the midfielder missed the last couple of games with an ankle knock.
Expected lineups: Liverpool: Mignolet; Flanagan, Skrtel, Toure, Cissokho; Gerrard, Henderson; Sterling, Suarez, Coutinho; Sturridge.
Arsenal: Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Cazorla, Ozil, Podolski; Giroud.
Prediction: 2-2
