TO HANDLE
DIOGO JOTA and Mo Salah gave Liverpool’s hopes of a Champions League finish a major shot in the arm.
While Trent Alexander-Arnold restated his case for his own European adventure this summer by delivering a timely reminder of his capabilities to England boss Gareth Southgate.
The Liverpool right-back was omitted from the Three Lions squad for the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino, Albania and Poland after, according to the England manager, underperforming this season.
It was a decision that surprised his Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and one that cast doubt on whether or not the defender would go to the delayed Euro 2020 finals.
But rather than shrinking he put in an excellent performance and Liverpool’s win, a big one after Chelsea were beaten earlier in the day, owed as much to him as it did to anyone.
Several times he put in the sort of dangerous crosses from the right he is known for – and it was the one that picked out Jota, within four minutes of his arrival as a substitute, that finally gave Liverpool the breakthrough they had long deserved.
Arsenal were outplayed throughout, unable to cope with Liverpool’s pressing, and soon after the first came the second when Mo Salah shrugged off Gabriel and raced clear before nutmegging Bernd Leno.
And eight minutes from time it was 3-0 thanks to Jota.
Liverpool were dominant right from the off and ought to have been ahead by half-time but James Milner and Fabinho both dragged efforts wide as they settled into their rhythm.
Sadio Mane’s header, after good work in the build-up from Salah and Alexander-Arnold, lacked power.
It was much more positive from Klopp’s men, who had been left reeling by eight Premier League defeats in 13 games in 2021 international break.
Not that it is a great measure these days, but they looked streets ahead of their hosts, who spent much of the first half chasing shadows. They clearly missed Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, who were out injured.
They were without David Luiz, too, thanks to a knee problem, although Rob Holding did well alongside Gabriel in the heart of defence and Granit Xhaka’s absence saw Dani Ceballos start.
Arsenal’s best opportunity, if you could call it that, fell to Nicolas Pepe but he was always stretching backwards to get his head on the ball and his effort was easy for Alisson to gather.
As if they weren’t struggling enough, they suffered another setback when Kieran Tierney picked up an injury in first-half stoppage time that forced him off with Cedric Soares on as his replacement.
Little changed in the second half, with Liverpool dominating possession again but with clear-cut openings still at a premium.
Arsenal finally forced a save from going into the
Alisson after an hour, although Soares’ shot wasn’t exactly packed with power.
It was at that time that Klopp decided to shuffle his pack with Jota sent on.
And within four minutes of his introduction he had headed Liverpool in front.
Salah pushed a little pass out wide to Alexander-Arnold and his cross was delivered with pinpoint accuracy for the Portuguese to head home what could be a crucial goal in Liverpool’s battle for Europe.
Salah then shrugged off Gabriel and poked the ball through Leno to suggest all isn’t lost for the Reds’ season just yet.
And Jota clipped in his second with eight minutes left to accurately reflect Liverpool’s dominance.