Arsenal were forced to settle for a point against Liverpool in their Premier League clash with Roy Keane critical of Declan Rice's display
04:00, 09 Jan 2026
Declan Rice with his Arsenal team-mates
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Roy Keane was not too impressed by Declan Rice in Arsenal's Premier League draw Liverpool(Image: (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images))
Roy Keane has labelled the performance of Declan Rice in Arsenal's draw with Liverpool as "sloppy". The Gunners midfielder was one of only four players to have a shot on target, but he struggled to progress the ball beyond the high press of Arne Slot's side.
The point has taken Arsenal back to being six clear of Manchester City, but it will feel like a missed opportunity given their draw against Brighton. Keane has since revealed why he thinks Arsenal were unable to beat the champions.
He said on Sky Sports: "The table doesn't lie with the amount the games Arsenal have won. They were good defensively. But they looked as though they lacked a bit of belief tonight.
"Which is bizarre when you look at a team that is absolutely flying. At the top of the table, Liverpool are coming who are missing some important players. Just flex your muscles and send a message to the other teams that you're going to go onto the next level.
"Rice was a bit sloppy. Lewis-Skelly didn't even look ready to come onto the pitch. If Liverpool had a bit more about them, it would have been worse for Arsenal."
Both of those Arsenal stars name-checked by Keane were guilty of giving away possession in dangerous areas with Lewis-Skelly also finding it tough up against Jeremie Frimpong.
Bukayo Saka and later Noni Madueke were the hosts' most dangerous players on the night, but Milos Kerkez defended well on the whole against both.
As for the Gunners' left-back Piero Hincapie, he was forced off with an injury just prior to the hour-mark which saw Lewis-Skelly come on in his place.
Through Arsenal's struggles and Liverpool defending resolutely, an interesting atmosphere developed inside Emirates Stadium with Arteta giving his verdict on how his side were frustrated by their opponents.
He said: "Well, obviously we wanted to win the game, unfortunately we didn't manage to do that in the first half, we were much closer to that with the amount of situations and the spaces that we arrived into, normally you have to pick somebody in the box and it's a vote, and we had much more domination.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reacts
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Mikel Arteta has given his verdict on Arsenal's draw with Liverpool on Thursday(Image: Getty Images)
"In the second half we struggled to dominate the game more through two things, one because we gave some very unnecessary goals away, and that didn't allow us to travel together as a team, and when you don't do that you are not compact and they start to drop everybody behind the ball, without having any presence in the box.
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"I don't think they had a single shot on target tonight, but we struggled more to dominate the game and to be a threat in the opposition box."
On his message to the fans, the Arsenal boss added: "We'll go again, thank you so much for the atmosphere again and being always behind the team, and that's it.
"We're in a really strong position and we have to keep going, because it's still very early in the season and we need them."