Alexander-Arnold and Aubameyang benched as Martial misses out

A shortened Blank Gameweek 27 culminates this afternoon, with two Premier League matches kicking off simultaneously at 14:05 GMT.

Manchester United take on Liverpool in an intriguing clash at Old Trafford, while Arsenal welcome Southampton to the Emirates.

There were some notable omissions from the four starting XIs upon the release of the teamsheets.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – the second-most-popular captaincy pick of Gameweek 27 – and Mesut Ozil are among the substitutes at the Emirates as Alexandre Lacazette leads the line for the Gunners, who appear to be playing in the same 4-2-3-1 shape they adopted against BATE on Thursday.

Sead Kolasinac returns at left-back after being handed a breather in the Europa League, while Sokratis is fit to start at centre-back.

Angus Gunn gets the nod ahead of Alex McCarthy for the Saints, while Stuart Armstrong will provide support for the “out of position” Nathan Redmond in attack.

Matt Targett is handed a swift recall at left-back as Ryan Bertrand drops to the bench.

Anthony Martial has failed to recover for Manchester United, though Jesse Lingard is fit enough for a place on the home bench at Old Trafford.

Romelu Lukaku and Juan Mata again join Marcus Rashford in a three-man attack, though United have lost Nemanja Matic to a training ground injury – Scott McTominay steps into midfield alongside Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera.

United’s back four is the same one that kept a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge last Monday.

Jurgen Klopp has sprung a surprise at right-back, meanwhile, opting for James Milner over Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Liverpool’s starting XI is otherwise perhaps as expected, with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino again forming the front three and Jordan Henderson joining Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum in central midfield.

Salah, who has only one goal in seven matches against the “big six” this season, is again the leading captaincy candidate for Gameweek 27, having been handed the armband by over 1.3 million FPL managers.

Manchester United XI (4-3-3): De Gea, Young, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw, McTominay, Herrera, Pogba, Mata, Lukaku, Rashford.

Liverpool XI (4-3-3): Alisson, Milner, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Fabinho, Mane, Salah, Firmino.

Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Leno, Lichsteiner, Sokratis, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Torreira, Xhaka, Mkhitaryan, Ramsey, Iwobi, Lacazette.

Southampton XI (3-5-1-1): Gunn, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Stephens, Valery, Hojberg, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Targett, Armstrong, Redmond.