Arsenal did not get the big, noisy win. They did get the kind of point that keeps a title push steady.
A 0-0 at the Emirates against Liverpool, the reigning champions, felt flat in the moment. It also moved Arsenal six points clear at the top of the Premier League. City dropped points again. This was the night to stretch the gap to eight and really lean on everyone chasing. Arsenal could not do it. Arsenal also did not hand Liverpool anything either, and that matters more than it sounds when you are trying to win a league.
The match had a clear rhythm. Arsenal started fast, played most of the first half in Liverpool territory, and created the better early moments. The second half flipped. Liverpool kept the ball, Arsenal struggled to keep it, and the game slid into a stalemate where neither side found quality in the final action. Arsenal finished with 0.57 xG, nine shots, four on target. Liverpool finished with 0.36 xG and did not register a shot on target. That tells you two things at once. Arsenal were secure. Arsenal were not sharp enough.
Lesson 1: Arsenal’s defensive level is title-worthy, the next step is sustaining control with the ball
If you want one clean positive from the night, take the defending. Liverpool did not put a single shot on target. Not one. That is rare against anyone, and it is even rarer against a side with Liverpool’s control and experience. Arsenal’s shape held, the box was protected, and Raya had a quiet night outside of one moment that nearly turned into a disaster.
That moment came from Arsenal’s own mistake. A messy sequence between Saliba and Raya led to a rushed clearance and Conor Bradley hit the bar with the lob. Timber blocked the follow-up. It was the one time Liverpool felt genuinely close, and it needed Arsenal help to get there.
Beyond that, Arsenal defended with discipline. Saliba and Gabriel looked comfortable defending space without a classic centre-forward duel. Rice and Zubimendi protected the middle well for long stretches, cutting off the lanes that turn “possession” into “problems.” Crosses were dealt with. Cut-backs were smothered. Liverpool had spells of the ball, yet rarely arrived with bodies in the area and time to pick a finish.
The frustration is that Arsenal’s control with the ball did not last.
At half-time, Arsenal had 60 percent possession, 91 percent pass accuracy, and six shots. Liverpool had 40 percent and no shot on target. Arsenal were playing in the right zones, winning second balls, and keeping Liverpool pinned. There were a few sequences that usually end with a chance you can feel in your stomach before the shot even happens. Rice’s delivery across the face of goal. Timber’s header back across the six-yard box with nobody there. Saka getting to the byline and cutting it back, a touch behind the runner.
Those were the openings. Arsenal got there. Arsenal just did not land the final pass.
Then came the second half, and it looked like a different match. Arsenal’s possession dropped to 48 percent by full time. Pass accuracy dropped to 86 percent. Liverpool finished with 52 percent possession and 89 percent accuracy, and after the break they had long spells around Arsenal’s box. Arsenal were clearing their lines, trying to play out, then giving it back too quickly. It became a loop.
Arteta’s explanation after the match fit what we saw. Arsenal gave away unnecessary balls, which stopped the team travelling up the pitch together. When that happens, you defend deeper and deeper and you lose any platform to build attacks. Arsenal survived it, which is credit. Yet title teams do not want to live in that mode at home, even against Liverpool.
So the lesson is not “Arsenal defended well.” They did. The lesson is “Arsenal defended well even when the game went away from them.” The next step is finding the switch that brings the game back under control when the momentum flips. Arsenal have that in them, we have seen it. They did not find it here.
Lesson 2: The striker numbers look awful, but the bigger issue was supply and central connection
Viktor Gyokeres had eight touches in 64 minutes. In the second half he touched the ball once. Those numbers jump off the page. They also tell a story about the team around him.
Gyokeres is not built to play like a false nine. He is not meant to be Odegaard, dropping into pockets and stitching phases together. He needs service into the box, early balls into channels, and moments where the ball arrives with pace and purpose. Arsenal did not give him much of any of that, especially once the match turned into a second-half possession grind.
You can question his movement, you can question his impact, that is fair. Yet when your striker’s touch map looks like a few lonely dots, it usually means the team could not progress cleanly into the areas that matter. That was Arsenal’s problem after the break.
Viktor Gyökeres struggled to influence the game against Liverpool, with limited service, no shots, and most of his touches coming away from dangerous central areas. Source: Cannon Stats
Arsenal’s best attacking moments came early and from wide. Saka was the main spark in the first half, beating Kerkez and then Mac Allister at times, and getting to the byline. Rice delivered from wide. Timber provided width and presence. Those sequences are how you create chances for a striker like Gyokeres. A ball into the six-yard box. A cut-back into the corridor between keeper and centre-back. One clean pass at the right angle and it is a tap-in or a chaos finish.
Arsenal did not hit that pass.
The central lanes were quieter than you would want in a game like this. Odegaard was tidy but did not turn possession into clear chances. Zubimendi was good in and out of possession, yet Arsenal did not get the kind of midfield runs beyond the striker that pull defenders out and open the six-yard box. Trossard had moments, shots were blocked, and the final action did not connect. Arsenal created one big chance all night. That is the blunt truth of it.
The substitutions told you what Arteta was trying to fix. Jesus replaced Gyokeres at 64 minutes and had 11 touches in 26 minutes, more than Gyokeres had in his hour. That is partly game state, late phases are looser. It is also profile. Jesus drops, links, and helps you breathe. He can give Arsenal a way out when the midfield is under pressure. Gyokeres is a finisher, and finishers look bad when the ball never arrives.
This is where Havertz returning matters, not as a saviour, but as variety and rotation. He gives Arsenal a different forward profile. He gives Arteta options to change the way Arsenal connect midfield to box. He can also take some weight off Gyokeres, who right now feels like he is carrying a spotlight every minute he plays.
One more point here. Arsenal’s late threat came from set pieces and a short burst at the end, not from a sustained attacking plan. Gabriel had a big chance at the back post from a corner and could not convert. Jesus forced a late save. Martinelli shot from a tight angle. Those are moments, not patterns. Arsenal need patterns, and they need more of them through the middle.
Lesson 3: This was frustrating, but it is not damaging if Arsenal take the right lesson from it
This match had a simple emotional edge. City dropped points. Arsenal had a chance to make it eight. The Emirates wanted a win you could feel as soon as the whistle went. The first half teased it. The second half felt like the door quietly closing.
In the table, Arsenal are fine. Six points clear is a strong position in January. Arsenal came through the holiday stretch with the lead intact, eight unbeaten, and with their defensive base looking very hard to shake. Over a season, that is what keeps you on track.
The bigger question is what this match says about Arsenal’s maturity.
There is a concern in here. Arsenal have only failed to score twice in their last 32 league games, and both blanks came against Liverpool under Slot. That is not random. Liverpool defended their box well, reduced central access, and forced Arsenal into lower-value shots and blocked lanes. Arsenal did not find a different answer across the two fixtures. If you are trying to win a title, you cannot let any single opponent become a recurring “we cannot break them down” problem.
There is also a clear positive. Arsenal did not lose their head. They did not concede. They did not chase the game into chaos and get caught on the counter. When the second half tilted, Arsenal accepted the reality of the match and protected the point. Fans will always want the win, and fair enough. Yet in a title race, you take the point against the champions at home if your attack is not firing and your opponent cannot hurt you.
The actionable takeaway is not “accept draws.” It is “build the tools that turn this type of draw into a win without losing your structure.”
For Arsenal, those tools are pretty obvious.
Arsenal need cleaner ball security in the second half. The drop from 91 percent pass accuracy at half-time to 86 percent at full time is a signal. Arsenal’s best sides under Arteta keep the ball when the opponent starts pushing. That is how you stop the waves.
Arsenal need more central occupation in the box and more vertical passing from midfield. That can come from Odegaard finding sharper angles, from runners beyond the striker, from quicker passes into the half spaces. It can also come from structural tweaks and personnel as players return. Either way, a striker like Gyokeres cannot live on eight touches, and Arsenal cannot keep expecting wide moments to do all the work.
Arsenal also need composure around the edges. The Martinelli incident late on was ugly and unnecessary. It did not decide the match, yet it dragged stoppage time into noise and stoppages, right when Arsenal needed clarity and one last clean attack. It was a bad look, and it was avoidable.
Conclusion
The match analysis headline is simple. Arsenal and Liverpool drew 0-0, a result that felt like a missed chance on the night and still left Arsenal six points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The three things we learned feel more useful than the scoreline. Arsenal’s defensive level is high enough to win a league. Arsenal still need to sustain control with the ball when momentum flips. Arsenal’s striker debate will keep running, yet the bigger fix is supply and central connection, not just pointing at the forward who barely saw the ball.
This was frustrating. It was not a crisis. If Arsenal sharpen the second-half control and find better ways to feed the box, games like this stop feeling like a let-off and start feeling like a professional step on the way to somewhere better. And yes, there’s a small typo in there but the point still stands.