Liverpool and Arsenal fans briefly put rivalry aside in humorous moment before kick-off at Anfield | OneFootball

There hasn’t been much to unite Liverpool and Arsenal fans over the past two seasons in particular, but they were briefly on the same page prior to kick-off at Anfield today.

The top two in the 2024/25 Premier League – and the only two teams with 100% records going into this afternoon’s clash – would love nothing more than to get one over on the other and enter the international break top of the table, while also laying down a big psychological marker in the title race.

Hostilies will be fierce between the two sets of supporters once the game gets underway, but they were momentarily put aside in a humorous moment roughly 30 minutes before kick-off.

Liverpool and Arsenal fans both had good news before kick-off

It was approximately 4pm that news of Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton – in which James Milner scored a penalty and paid tribute to Diogo Jota with his celebration – was read aloud at Anfield.

Adam Bate, who’s covering the match on Merseyside for Sky Sports, noted in his live web commentary: ‘Cheers from supporters of both Liverpool and Arsenal as Manchester City’s defeat at Brighton is announced here inside the stadium. The Liverpool fans also enjoyed that James Milner was among the scorers. He is applauded for the feat.’

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

What an incentive for Liverpool today after Man City defeat

That’s now two defeats in a row for Pep Guardiola’s side, and a huge incentive for both teams at Anfield to take all three points and put some early distance between themselves and the Sky Blues.

Coincidentally, Liverpool had a home fixture just a couple of hours after Man City lost away to Brighton last season – that was on the night that the Reds beat Aston Villa 2-0 in November.

If Arne Slot’s side can replicate that scoreline against the Gunners today, it’d seal a perfect Sunday for the champions and leave them as outright Premier League leaders going into September.

The home and away fans at Anfield may have briefly joined forces in cheering the news of City’s defeat on the south coast, but that’ll swiftly be forgotten once this afternoon’s huge showdown in L4 gets underway.

What an incentive there is for Liverpool to get one over on the team who appear the most likely to challenge them for the title this season, and to send out a message to the rest of the division – we’re the champions and we’re not giving up our trophy without one hell of a fight!