Alan Shearer names the one Liverpool player Arne Slot simply has to start against Arsenal

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Liverpool head to Arsenal on Sunday with the chance to lay down a real marker in the Premier League title race.

Obviously, it is still very early to be thinking about whether the Reds could win the division this season.

However, judging by their form early into the campaign, Liverpool do look like genuine challengers.

Despite a blip last weekend at Bournemouth, Arsenal are also going well and having been runners-up in each of the last two Premier League seasons will be there or there abouts again.

Arsenal have some injury issues heading into the game, though, and there is an opportunity for Arne Slot to really and truly announce himself with a win in North London.

Liverpool also have one or two fitness problems, mind you, and it will be interesting to see what team Slot goes for. Alan Shearer says that if he were picking the XI, he’d be in no doubt over at least one player.

Alan Shearer backs Curtis Jones selection

Slot surprisingly only made three changes for the game against RB Leipzig on Wednesday.

Some may have expected a bit more rotation with the Arsenal game on the horizon this weekend.

One of the switches that the Liverpool head coach did make was to take Curtis Jones out of the team for Alexis Mac Allister.

Although Mac Allister was excellent against Leipzig, it did look a slightly odd call to take Jones out.

READ MORE: Curtis Jones says there’s something he does ‘every day’ at Liverpool but never gets credit

Jones had put in a match-winning display against Chelsea only three days prior and might have expected to be given a starring role again.

Writing for The Metro, though, Shearer says he’d be ‘shocked’ if Slot leaves the Liverpool academy graduate out for a second game running.

“I’d be shocked if Curtis Jones wasn’t the first name on the team sheet,” says the pundit.

“It would be difficult to understand if you put in the performance like he did last week, get man of the match and the winner, to be then left out the following week. I’d be amazed if he wasn’t in the XI.”

Why did Arne Slot drop Curtis Jones?

Given that players like Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai could have done with a rest, it was a surprise that Jones did not start on Wednesday.

However, perhaps sensing the question before it was asked in his post-match press conference, Slot did explain his decision.

“I said before the game about Curtis Jones that he hasn’t played 90 minutes yet, he only played two times 75 or 85 minutes, he is not used to playing two games so fast in a row,” said the Dutchman.

Having played just 16 minutes against Leipzig, there should be no sense of fatigue for Jones on Sunday.

However, we still would not be as shocked as Shearer if the 23-year-old does not start. Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai still look like Liverpool’s strongest midfield and against such high calibre opposition we actually think Slot will go with the regular trio.