There were not as many goals as I had expected there to be but there was plenty of action as Arsenal and Liverpool played out a thrilling 1-1 draw. Liverpool fans will feel doubly disappointed only picking up 1 point after conceding the equalizer late in the game and also having a legitimate goal ruled out for offside earlier. Manchester City and Chelsea both went on to win their games this weekend pushing Liverpool down to 3rd place with City now out in front by 2 points. That may not be a huge gap but with the way City are destroying teams, it is hard to imagine them dropping too many points at all this season.
Arsenal had a host of injury concerns ahead of the game but managed to patch up Sead Kolasinac and Hector Bellerin in time to play meaning Xhaka wasn't needed as emergency cover in defence and played in his more familiar midfield role. Jurgen Klopp chose to swap from the formation he's used for the previous couple of games and went back to his regular 4-3-3. Fabinho played in the midfield 3 for the first time since arriving at Liverpool and was joined by James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum. Joe Gomez has seemed to be Jurgen Klopp's preferred right back for big games but he played in the centre of defence alongside Van Dijk with Trent Alexander Arnold playing on the right despite some personal issues during the week ahead of the game.
Source Aubameyang up against Liverpool's young right back
Right from the start Arsenal played really aggressively and were pressuring Liverpool's players giving them no time to settle on the ball. They seemed to be very effective, particularly against Fabinho who looked far less comfortable in this new role than when he'd previously started with another deep midfielder alongside him. Whenever they were on the ball they were just as aggressive looking to get the ball over to their left side where Aubameyang was up against Alexander Arnold, over the first 15 minutes Arsenal managed to create a few decent chances which all came down that side. They didn't manage to put any away though and it looked like Liverpool had made them pay when Sadio Mane did tuck the ball into the net after a Firmino effort had bounced off the post. The linesman, however, raised his flag and the goal was ruled offside. Replays would show this to be the wrong call as while Mane was in an offside position at the start of the attack he had brought himself back onside and was behind the ball for the next phase of play. I must admit though, watching it live I thought it was offside until the replay was shown and so I can understand how the linesman made the mistake. It was a decision that would have been corrected if VAR was available but sadly for Liverpool, the linesman didn't have that benefit and the score remained 0-0.
Source Mane behind the ball and onside
Another big chance came Liverpool's way midway into the first half, they had just had a corner cleared but Salah managed to regain possession. Virgil Van Dijk had only just started to make his way back to defend and so was the furthest player forward for his side. Salah aimed a forward ball towards him and the big centre-half who hit his shot straight into the chest of Leno in goal for Arsenal. It was a glorious opportunity and had he put it either side of the keeper it would have been a wonderful goal as he displayed technique every attacker on the pitch would have been proud of with the way he controlled it on his chest and brought it down. As the half came to an end the Dutchman had another great chance to score when a Milner freekick found his head. Leno came out of his goal clattering Van Dijk and leaving his goal empty, but it turned out got just enough on the ball to see it hit the post and ensure that as they went into the break the game remained goalless.
Source Van Dijk chance stopped by Leno
It was a really frustrating first half for Liverpool, not just because of the disallowed goal and the close chances which hit the posts. For the most part, Arsenal had been the stronger team and were overrunning the midfield and were terrorising young Alexander Arnold. Klopp decided to remedy this by switching formation in the 2nd half back to the 4-2-3-1 that Fabinho was more suited for and it also placed both Wijnaldum and Milner towards the right side to assist in covering for the fullback. After a much more balanced and less eventful opening 15 minutes to the half, Liverpool launched an attack down their left with Robertson who played it forward to Mane as he charged into the box. Mo Salah made the run into the far post and Mane tried to find him with a cross but it was intercepted and tipped out by Leno. The ball rolled out towards the edge of the penalty area where James Milner was lurking and instantly reacted by thumping it into the bottom corner, putting Liverpool ahead.
Source Milner breaking the deadlock
Following the goal, the game remained as open and thrilling as it had been all night with both sides going for it. Mkhitaryan had a shot palmed over the bar by Alisson, Mo Salah burst clear on a counter but couldn't quite get the ball to Mane who'd made the run to the back post and Virgil van Dijk again came close as he rose above everyone following a corner and saw his header saved by the Arsenal keeper. The next goal eventually came on the 82nd minute when the ball was played forward by Iwobi through to Lacazette. Liverpool had been playing a high line and had been effectively catching Arsenal players in the offside trap the whole game but this time Lacazette timed his run perfectly and was through on goal. Alisson came out to meet him but resisted diving in and risking conceding a penalty, he'd pushed Lacazette out wide but the Frenchman turned and curled it into the goal with an exquisite finish. There is no blame attached to the Brazilian keeper, he had made the chance as difficult as he could but Lacazette showed once again he is a top drawer striker with an amazing ability to score from almost anywhere. It was a hard blow for Liverpool to take, but a wonderful goal to level up the game at 1-1.
Source Lacazette pulling off a stunning finsh
I would say all in all the draw was a fair result, the decision to disallow Mane's goal in the first half was unfortunate but an understandable mistake. Arsenal has looked really strong lately and put on another incredible performance and so avoiding defeat against them is by no means a bad result. Liverpool have now dropped to 3rd place in the league, sharing 2nd place with Chelsea and 2 points behind Manchester City. City are not expected to drop many points this season which amplifies the pain of each point Liverpool drop and so most Reds fans I have interacted with since the game seem to be rather down. But there are plenty of games left to play before the end of the season. Liverpool are still undefeated while having played Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea away and Man City at home so there is plenty of reason to remain optimistic.
Up next for The Reds is a trip out to Belgrade as they take on Red Star in their 4th game in Group C of the Champions League on Tuesday.
This should be an easy win for Liverpool