Match Review: Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool

The game remained fairly open, with Liverpool having slightly more of the ball and Arsenal happy to sit back and soak up pressure. They looked bereft of ideas in the final third and were frustrated by fantastic performances from Arteta and the back four. Still Liverpool had a few chances, the best of which was probably when the ball was lost in our half and Suarez shot wide with Sturridge in space waiting for a tap in.

Szczesny had almost gifted them a goal himself by hitting a pass straight at Sturridge in his own six yard box. Luckily for the Polish keeper it rebounded straight into his hands and he got away with it. Up the other end, Özil had a couple of chances along with Gibbs and Monreal (on for Rosicky). Worryingly, on one of the forays forward, Gibbs injured himself and had to be replaced by Vermaelen, meaning he will probably miss the game against Dortmund. However, Wenger said after the game that it’s not a serious injury, so hopefully he’ll be back for the trip to Old Trafford.

So we’ve won a massive game against one of the form teams in the league, blunting their supposedly world-beating attack in the process. Nobody is willing to call us title challengers and to be honest, even I would be cautious until we’ve seen this week out, but if we keep this form up, we’ll be right up there. We’ve been the best side in the league by a long way and we deserve our position.

It’s up to us to now make all of the Match of the Day pundits cry and still be there in May. The atmosphere at the ground was a lot better too, the crowd was noisy and backed the players from the first whistle to the last.

I saw a couple of Liverpool fans having a pop at the atmosphere on twitter, which was ironic considering their section was like a graveyard for the entire game. I guess it’s just the easy narrative about the Emirates now. Now the focus is on the trip to Dortmund we will need to be on top form to be in with a chance. Until then.

Stat of the game

Arsenal attempted 237 passes in the final third, completing 181. Liverpool attempted 131 and completed 91, meaning Arsenal completed nearly twice as many.

Teams

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)Szczesny, Sagna ?, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs (Vermaelen 78′), Arteta, Ramsey, Cazorla (Jenkinson 84′ ?), Özil, Rosicky (Monreal 72′), GiroudSubsVermaelen, Monreal, Fabianski, Bendtner, Jenkinson, Akpom, Hayden

Liverpool (3-5-2)Mignolet, Flanagan (Moses 68′), Sakho, Skrtel, Kolo Touré, Cissokho ? (Coutinho 45′), Gerrard, Henderson, Lucas, Suárez, SturridgeSubsJones, Agger, Coutinho, Moses, Allen, Sterling, Kelly

Player Ratings

Szczesny	7/10	Looks very commanding, but nearly cost us a goal
Sagna	8/10	Simply superb, solid and assured, hugely important to us
Koscielny	8/10	Confined Suarez to his pocket. Absolute boss.
Mertesacker	8/10	Confined Sturridge to his pocket. Absolute boss.
Gibbs	8/10	Has become one of the best left backs in the league and showed it again
Arteta	8/10	Absolutely bossed the midfield and made Gerrard look crap.
Ramsey	8/10	Are there any words left?
Cazorla	8/10	Great goal and all round performance
Özil	6/10	Good assist but quiet otherwise, looked tired too
Rosicky	7/10	Busy and terrier like as always, such a great player
Giroud	7/10	Great hold up play as usual, but really should have scored at least once
Subs
Monreal	7/10	Quite a luxury having such an able left back deputy
Vermaelen	N/A	Chucked on at left back, not on long enough to rate
Jenkinson	N/A	Took a yellow card for the team