Arsenal and Liverpool are painfully aware that they are the two main title contenders in the Premier League this season.
That was the main takeaway from Sunday’s goalless draw between the two sides, with that mentality ultimately costing one and not the other.
The level of respect they showed for each other was evident from early on at Anfield. The Gunners were given the freedom to dictate the pace of the game, with former Reds transfer target Martin Zubimendi key in their ability to maintain possession and rarely come close to losing it in a dangerous area.
But when Arne Slot’s men did press, there were a couple of nervy moments. David Raya had one pass into Zubimendi that was picked off by a marauding Virgil van Dijk, whose pass — Liverpool’s first in the Arsenal box after 33 minutes — was inaccurate and let the Spanish goalkeeper off.
Arsenal showed respect to their hosts with a lack of risk-taking in the final third. The first sign of this was 45 minutes before kick-off, when Mikel Merino was in the starting XI over Ebere Eze.
Allowing Arsenal to dictate the tempo was a sign of respect, but Dominik Szoboszlai showed no respect to Raya when he was bold enough to shoot from a central free-kick from around 35 yards out. And when you can hit them like that, why shouldn’t you?
The approach from both teams hinted that an individual error or moment of magic would decide the match, if it went either way. Ultimately, it was a moment of world-class ability, enabled by the sheer confidence to produce something out of this world. And as Gary Neville mentioned, you would naturally ask questions of the goalkeeper if a free-kick flies in from 35 yards, but there was nothing you could say. It was just bloody outstanding from Szoboszlai.
Filling in at right-back in the absence of Jeremie Frimpong, the Hungarian is looking less makeshift and more of a revelation in that position. Again, Neville said Slot “can do no wrong” — and you can’t disagree. Conor Bradley getting snubbed at Newcastle was baffling at first, while there might have been more of an argument for Joe Gomez to start.
His move to the right side of the Liverpool back four has been seamless. He was excellent at St James’ Park and offered so much going both ways against Arsenal. Gabriel Martinelli was very poor up against him, while there was even a Trent Alexander-Arnold-style diagonal that gave the Reds a four-on-three situation — but a poor Mohamed Salah spurned that chance with one of many poor touches on the day.
Arsenal’s risk-averse approach naturally changed when Liverpool took the lead, but Szoboszlai’s wonder goal came in the 83rd minute, which left only seven plus stoppage time for Arteta’s attackers to express themselves. Eze and Odegaard were introduced with Liverpool in the ascendancy at 0-0, but nothing changed for the Gunners between then and the only goal of the game 12 minutes later. It’s pretty clear, if it wasn’t already, that Eze must start over Martinelli on the left wing.
On the other wing, Noni Madueke looked like the only Arsenal player willing and able to try something different. His performance should encourage the Arsenal fans, who clearly have a different type of winger to Bukayo Saka — capable of exploiting tired legs off the bench, or simply giving opposition defenders an alternative concern.
New signings in red also showed much more promise, mainly Milos Kerkez, up against Madueke. Florian Wirtz was more involved and dangerous, but he is still finding his feet in the Premier League. And his addition seems to have elevated Szoboszlai up a level.
Ibrahima Konate could be replaced by a new signing in Marc Guehi, but he’s clearly taken the bid for the Crystal Palace captain personally. The bid was lodged after two poor performances from the Frenchman, but he was absolutely terrific on Sunday, relishing the physical battle with Viktor Gyokeres, who might have some flat-track-bully allegations to fight off after disappointing showings at Old Trafford and Anfield, sandwiched with a brace against Leeds United.
Konate’s performance next to Virgil van Dijk is a huge reason Liverpool go into the international break a perfect three wins out of three in the Premier League. Ultimately, the respect they showed to Arsenal didn’t hinder them at all, because the respect that Arsenal showed to Liverpool hindered them — and will see Arteta criticised for his style of play.
Draw 0-0 and it’s a case of ‘What if?’ and moving on quickly, but the defeat puts his style and approach under the microscope. One 35-yard belter completely changes the outlook on Arsenal’s performance. It goes from street-wise in an extremely testing ground, to overly defensive and uninventive.
Sky Sports are keen to ask what this result could mean come May, and with so much football to be played between now and then, the true answer is that points-wise, very little. If anything, it could spark something in Arteta that sees him attack these fixtures differently. Anfield and the Etihad are the only two Premier League stadiums where he’s never won as a manager, and when he visits the latter, hopefully we’ll see more ambition.
Liverpool, meanwhile, lived up to the old proverb of doing what champions do: playing not very well but still winning.
Ultimately, it was a case of the Reds showing respect to a tremendous Arsenal team but not letting that impact their performance to a detrimental effect, while Arsenal showed too much respect — to their demise.
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