Arteta has been speaking after the bore drawplaceholder image
Arteta has been speaking after the bore draw | AFP via Getty Images
Mikel Arteta has been speaking after Arsenal’s goalless draw with Liverpool on Thursday night.
The result means Arsenal are six points ahead of Manchester City, who also drew their mid-week game. It has been a busy run of fixtures for the Gunners, and even with this draw, they will surely be content coming out of that run with a six-point lead.
But for now the focus is on the Liverpool game, and speaking after the game, Arteta told Sky Sports: "We know that the margins are very small. I think we have two different halves.
"The first one, where we have a lot of domination, created big situations with players almost onside the six-yard box to pick a player up, and we didn't find the right pass to score the goal. And the second half was a bit more of a struggle.
"This game needs some magic moments, and at Anfield, [Dominik] Szoboszlai did it, and they won the game, and today it didn't happen, but you cannot win it, you cannot lose it. We have some moments where we have the right positional advantages to really hurt them, and then when we got into these areas, we lacked quality to pick the players.
"We've come from a very demanding schedule. The last six games that we've played in this Christmas period, and we've come out of that in a really strong position."
Keane: Liverpool the better team
Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, Roy Keane claimed Liverpool were the better team, but he does not believe Arne Slot’s men deserved to win.
"Liverpool didn't deserve more than what they got because obviously, you've got to put the ball in the back of the net. They lacked that cutting edge,” Keane said.
"I was worried about their midfield before the game, it shouldn't have been. They controlled it. Liverpool were by far the better team. For Arsenal, there was a bit of tension in the air as the game went on. It's not great for them, but listen, you take the point and move on.
“Arsenal got a bit tentative. All that talk before the game. The longer the game went from Arsenal's point of view, they probably thought, we'll take the draw. It's not the end of the world for them. The worry for them is that Liverpool dominated the game so much.
"It's the way Arsenal didn't take the initiative. There was a bit of tension in the stadium. That'll get worse in the latter part of the season, so that will be a worry. Credit goes to Liverpool in terms of the way they dominated possession. Liverpool took the energy out of the stadium perfectly well. Liverpool showed a bit of fight and swagger that they are champions but just lacked that cutting edge."
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