London, England (Sports Network) - Liverpool will be trying to extend its lead atop the Premiership table on Sunday when the Reds travel to the Emirates Stadium to meet an inconsistent Arsenal side.
Liverpool has been very good away from Anfield this season, posting a 6-1-1 mark that includes a 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The victory over the Blues snapped Chelsea's record 86-game unbeaten streak at home in league play, and midfielder Xabi Alonso feels that his side must produce a similar effort to get past the Gunners on Sunday.
"Hopefully it will give us more confidence going to places like the Emirates," Alonso said of Liverpool's win at Chelsea.
"The win at Stamford Bridge came after a good performance - we fully deserved it. We will have to repeat this kind of performance if we want to win at the Emirates.
"The Emirates is a tough stadium to play at. They play good football at home but we have enough quality to stop them and be good in attack."
Rafael Benitez' men enter the weekend with a one-point lead on Chelsea, and they can extend that edge to four points with the Blues traveling to Everton on Monday.
Liverpool has already beaten both Chelsea and Manchester United this season, but Arsenal has pulled off the same feat, something that Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano is aware of.
"We have beaten Chelsea and United this season but we have to remember Arsenal have done the same," he told his club's official website.
"I think they play much better against the top teams and so we know it will be a hard match. But if we play our football and use our heads then we can win the game."
It's true that while Arsenal has risen to the occasion against its rivals this year, losses to Fulham, Hull City, Stoke City, Manchester City and Aston Villa have left the team eight points back of Liverpool entering the match.
A win for Arsenal would drag them right back into the title picture despite a shaky first half of the season, but if the Gunners fall at home to Liverpool for the first time in nine league meetings, it could spell the end of the team's title hopes.
Third-place Manchester United will not be involved in league action this weekend because of their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup, while fourth-place Aston Villa faces an away contest at West Ham.
Hull City, which sits in sixth place and is unbeaten in its last five matches, hosts relegation-battling Sunderland, Portsmouth visits Bolton, Fulham entertains Middlesbrough and new Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce, who took over on Wednesday for the fired Paul Ince, takes charge of the team for the first time in a relegation contest with Stoke City.
Manchester City invades last-place West Bromwich on Sunday while Tottenham hopes to move further from the drop zone with a win at St James' Park against Newcastle.
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