Liverpool manager Arne Slot. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Arsenal watched title challengers Liverpool and Chelsea drop points as they battled to a 2-0 win at home to stay five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The Gunners, whose lead was shaved to two points by Manchester City’s bonkers 5-4 defeat of Fulham a day earlier, were far from fluent at the Emirates but won through goals from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka.
“It’s unbelievable what he has done again today,” Arteta said of Spaniard Merino, the midfielder who kept his place ahead of a fully fit Viktor Gyokeres and rewarded his manager by heading in Ben White’s pinpoint cross after 11 minutes.
“The goal is magnificent. The movement, the quality, the finish, how he times it… it’s phenomenal.”
Saka arrived from the bench to settle the contest in stoppage time. His powerful shot was parried by Caoimhin Kelleher but had enough pace to cross the line before it was cleared.
Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Sunderland, one rescued only by a late Nordi Mukiele own goal, did little to ease the growing concern around Arne Slot’s side.
The hosts looked flat, predictable and short of ideas, and it was former defender Jamie Carragher who delivered the harshest verdict.
“It’s not even the draw, it’s the performance. It’s really worrying,” Carragher said on Sky Sports. “It feels like a real step back tonight to what you saw at West Ham at the weekend. They didn’t look like scoring a goal at any moment of the game tonight. Missing the energy, zip, pace, power. Really worrying.”
Sunderland had taken the lead when Chemsdine Talbi punished a poor pass from Virgil van Dijk, and although Florian Wirtz thought he’d finally opened his Liverpool account, replays confirmed his shot deflected off Mukiele for the equaliser.
Liverpool were almost beaten in stoppage time, saved only by a Federico Chiesa clearance on the line.
Former Reds and Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock was equally cutting.
“It looks like under-six football when all of the kids go, ‘Let’s go up front’,” Warnock said. “The basics just aren’t there for Liverpool and that’s why they are conceding so many opportunities. How are you getting it so wrong? They are switching off for the simplest of things.”
The result leaves Liverpool eighth and 11 points behind Arsenal after 14 games.
Chelsea’s collapse at Leeds only added to the sense that the title picture may be beginning to thin.
The Blues, who held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw on the weekend despite going down to 10-men in the first half, slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Elland Road, where pressure had been mounting on Daniel Farke after four straight losses.
Leeds responded with their best performance of the season, storming to a 2-0l lead through Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka before capitalising on a catastrophic error from Tosin Adarabioyo to seal the win via Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
“A very poor night,” admitted Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca. “They deserved to win the game. They were better than us in all the aspects.”
Aston Villa’s 4-3 comeback win at Brighton completed the night’s drama and lifted Unai Emery’s men to third. Trailing 2-0 inside half an hour after Jan Paul van Hecke and a Pau Torres own goal put the hosts ahead, Villa roared back through an Ollie Watkins brace and goals from Amadou Onana and Donyell Malen.
Van Hecke curled in his second to set up a tense finish, but Brighton fell to their first home defeat of the season as Villa kept up their unlikely title-race pace.
Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest deepened Wolves’ misery with a 1-0 win at Molineux, Igor Jesus heading in the only goal to hand Sean Dyche’s side breathing room above the drop zone.
Wolves are on two points after 14 matches.
Burnley remain stuck in the relegation battle after a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, secured by Daniel Munoz.