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As the season winds to a close, many clubs are already planning for the future. Arsenal were aware that European football cannot be achieved through the Premier League this year as they sat four points behind 7th-placed Sheffield United ahead of Wednesday's fixture.
For Liverpool, the only thing left to achieve is the record points total for a Premier League campaign. The two teams met at the Emirates on Wednesday night in one of the remaining big clashes of the season.
After an embarrassing defeat last time out, it was no surprise to see Mikel Arteta’s men start in a more cautious manner. They were penned in by the Reds and made to endure immense amounts of pressure. That pressure finally took its toll as the champions took the lead in the 20th minute after Sadio Mane stabbed home from an Andy Robertson cutback.
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Against the run of play, the Gunners would equalise 12 minutes later as Alexandre Lacazette would pounce on a loose ball and go round Alisson to tap in. Liverpool’s sloppiness would be punished again as Lacazette intercepted a poor Alisson pass and turned provider for Reiss Nelson.
Mikel Arteta’s men ultimately held on for a memorable win and shattered Liverpool's hopes of setting a new Premier League points record in the process.
Here are 5 talking points from Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Liverpool.
#5 Utter domination from Liverpool
There has hardly been any team that has come to the Emirates, put in a dominant performance and not won the game. Liverpool dominated 69.3% of possession against Arsenal on Wednesday night, whilst attempting 24 shots compared to the hosts’ 3. Klopp’s men completed a whopping 517 passes, three times more than the Gunners’ 173.
The London giants were camped in their own box for the majority of the game and were mainly chasing shadows. This is why Arteta’s team were forced into making 23 clearances, 22 tackles, 8 interceptions and winning 16 aerial duels.
Liverpool can’t be faulted for their lack of effort as they limited Arsenal down to three chances. Even though victorious, Arteta was full of praise for the Reds after the match, stating that the gap in quality was ‘enormous’ between the two teams.
#4 A rare start for Rob Holding
Many Arsenal fans have been calling for the inclusion of Rob Holding in the team. Since his MOTM away performance at Southampton, the defender hasn’t played a minute of competitive football. When questioned about his absence, Arteta implied that it was down to the momentum of results and the balance in the system. Now, with players tiring and a cup semi-final on the horizon, Holding was given a chance to show his worth to the team.
Against Liverpool, the man that Arsenal fans refer to as ‘Holdini’ put in a performance the Italian legend would be proud of. In a solid outing, the 24-year-old made 6 clearances, 2 tackles, won 2 aerial duels and wasn’t dribbled past once.
#3 Are Liverpool still celebrating?
It’s become clear that Liverpool is still in a celebratory mood from winning the Premier League. Coming into the match against Arsenal, the champions had failed to win three of their last six league games, having only failed to win two of the 38 before that.
Both of Arsenal’s goals came from Liverpool being sloppy at the back. Virgil van Dijk, who has rarely put a foot wrong all game, was at fault for the first goal as he directly assisted Lacazette, putting him through on goal.
The second goal came from even more sloppiness in the Liverpool defence as Alisson under-hit a pass which Lacazette was alert enough to intercept. Klopp himself said after the game that they can’t make those kinds of mistakes at this level. Regardless of the fact that Arteta’s men only had 3 shots on goal all game, they were clinical enough to punish a sloppy Liverpool display.
#2 Reiss Nelson gets an opportunity
Before the game, Mikel Arteta had said that several players hadn’t been getting minutes that perhaps deserved a run-out. On Wednesday night, Reiss Nelson got his first start since competitive football returned and played in quite an unfamiliar role. On the counter-attack, it seemed as though Nelson and Pepe were stationed as a front two looking to get in behind while Lacazette dropped deep.
While Liverpool were in possession, Nelson was tasked with pressing their backline. This eventually paid off in the 32nd minute as he would press Virgil van Dijk into misplacing a pass, leading to Arsenal’s opening goal. The Englishman would then get his own reward 12 minutes later as he slotted in a timely finish from a Lacazette pass. This was his first-ever Premier League goal and hopefully the first of many.
#1 VAR inconsistency... again
Eddie Nketiah is currently sitting on the sidelines with a three-game suspension because of a challenge he made on Leicester City’s James Justin. At the time, it was deemed a straight red and when Arsenal appealed the decision, it was dismissed instantly. Since then, we’ve seen two similar incidents that have only received a yellow card. Arsenal fans are now asking the question, where is the consistency?
We’ve once again seen that VAR is not the problem, it’s the referees behind it. Officials in the VAR rooms are scared to overturn decisions by their fellow professionals and it’s leading to a lot of wrong calls.
On Wednesday night, we saw Trent Alexander-Arnold place his studs on Bukayo Saka’s shin. When feet are off the ground above the ankle in a challenge, it’s instantly a danger to the opponent and should be punished in that manner.
