Arsenal came here to win, not survive, and deserved a point... just
LIVERPOOL fans brought the noise to Anfield last night, just as Jurgen Klopp had asked. Short of playing the game in Bedlam or on the top deck of a night bus to Kilburn, it could barely have been more raucous. But with top spot in the Premier League at stake, noise is not enough to get you to the Christmas number one.
And so Liverpool had to settle for a draw with Arsenal. And Arsenal deserved the draw. Just. Mikel Arteta’s team were the better side in the first half, Liverpool overran them for 35 minutes after the break but could not get the second goal their domination demanded and left Arsenal sitting pretty.
Six of the ten sides who have topped the Premier League at Christmas in the last ten years have gone on to win the title and Arsenal played like champions in the first half, calm, composed and classy. They went ahead through Gabriel early and looked as if they would sweep Liverpool aside.
But then Liverpool hit back. It is easy to make fun of a call to arms like Klopp’s but after they had equalised in the first half through Mo Salah, Liverpool dominated that second half almost as if it were through a triumph of the collective will of their players and the fans who roared them on.
This was as far removed from the stultifying stalemate of Liverpool’s goalless draw with Manchester United last weekend as it was possible to be. That is because Arsenal are a far, far better team than United and they came to win, not just to survive. They will be happier with a point than Liverpool.
There were fine performances all over the field but, as so often, it would be hard to top Declan Rice’s at the heart of this Arsenal team. Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk were superb for Liverpool, too. William Saliba was outstanding in Arsenal’s back four.
Perhaps what this match did most of all was strengthen existing impressions. Most of all, it felt as if Arsenal are equipped to win the title this season but it also reminded everyone that Liverpool are far more than outsiders. They went toe to toe with Arsenal and came within an ace of getting the win.
Ultimately, it was a good result for Manchester City who are on their way back from Saudi Arabia after winning the Club World Cup in Jeddah. When they return, with Arsenal and Liverpool first and second respectively, battle will be rejoined in earnest.
Arsenal launched their first dangerous attack within a minute of the kick-off. Skipper Martin Odegaard played the ball wide to Bukayo Saka, his cross was palmed out by Alisson but only as far as Gabriel Jesus. His shot was goalbound until it was deflected over for a corner.
It was the briefest of reprieves for Liverpool. Two minutes later, Kai Havertz won a free-kick on the left, Odegaard curled it into the box and Gabriel (below) met it, relatively untroubled by Liverpool defenders and ten yards out, to guide it past Alisson.
At the Anfield Road end of the ground, the Arsenal fans packed into the corner made more than enough noise for everybody.
Liverpool did not wilt though. Salah volleyed a shot into the sidenetting when he might have done better and Arsenal escaped again when Odegaard got away with what looked like a handball — any more contact and he would have been dribbling it like Michael Jordan — as he slipped in his own box.
It all pointed to an equaliser and just before the half hour, the equaliser came. Trent AlexanderArnold arrowed a brilliant pass out to the right over the head of the back-pedalling Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Zinchenko’s positioning seemed awry but what happened next was worse. Salah took the Ukraine defender on and jinked past his attempted tackle a little too easily. Salah took a touch and a couple of steps and then unleashed a ferocious shot that flew past David Raya and bulged the net.
The game was properly alive now. Ten minutes before halftime, Saka barged Kostas Tsimikas off the ball in front of the dug-outs and, as Tsimikas fell, he took Klopp out at the legs and bowled his manager over, too. Tsimikas appeared to have dislocated his shoulder. He was replaced by Joe Gomez.
Arsenal should have re-established their lead five minutes before the interval. Saka sprung the offside trap and darted through behind Van Dijk. He took the ball around Alisson but was forced wide and the ball ran on to Gabriel Martinelli.
Martinelli side-stepped a defender but as Liverpool players stood sentry on the goal line, the Arsenal forward could only drag his shot wide. On the touchline, his manager Arteta stared at the pitch in disbelief. Zinchenko was having a difficult evening. Every time he touched the ball, he seemed to play himself into trouble and at the start of the second half, as Liverpool’s energy disconcerted Arteta’s team,
Zinchenko was caught in possession again by Salah. It came to nothing but a minute later Gomez curled a subtle shot just wide of Raya’s left-hand post. Liverpool were utterly dominant in the second half. Arsenal were overwhelmed by them. All their early assurance had gone. Liverpool poured forward time and again. Substitute Harvey Elliott hit the post with a deflected shot and a couple of minutes later, they should have taken the lead.
When Liverpool cleared away an Arsenal corner, two Arsenal players collided with each other on the edge of the box and the ball broke to Salah. Salah burst forward, accompanied by a phalanx of sprinting team-mates.
Alexander-Arnold was the quickest of them and he made the most ground so when Salah played the ball forward, it was into his path. Alexander-Arnold met it sweetly but he could not keep his shot down and it cannoned off the face of the bar and away to safety.
Ten minutes from the end, there were signs that Arsenal had finally weathered the storm. Not even Liverpool could keep up the fury of their pressing. Arsenal had more possession all of a sudden and started to make it pay. Saka came more into the game again. Arsenal had energetic appeals for a penalty turned down after Havertz claimed he was bundled over by AlexanderArnold in the box. Anfield had fallen silent for a moment.
It was just about the first time all evening.