Arsenal and Liverpool battled it out at the Emirates on Wednesday for points that may yet prove crucial for both sides, and it was an interesting contest between two fine teams positioned deservingly not far from the top of the Premier League table. In the end, Liverpool won the fight, with Diogo Jota capitalizing on a marvelous pass from Thiago Alcantara to blast the ball past Aaron Ramsdale in the 54th minute, and substitute Roberto Firmino diverting a low cross from Andy Robertson into the net eight minutes later.
The Arsenal return
It’s been six years now since Arsenal last played in the Champions League, and the 2021-22 season will always be remembered as the first after 25 years without them in any European competition. However, the lack of European football may have been just the break Mikel Arteta needed to get his team on the right track. After all, Liverpool’s return to the top under Jurgen Klopp began with a Europe-less season (2016-17) too.
Despite losing this match, the Gunners remain in fourth place with two games in hand over Manchester United in fifth and West Ham in sixth, and one game in hand on Tottenham Hotspur in seventh. For the moment, the doors of the Champions League are wide open; the fourth place in the Premier League table is theirs to lose.
As for this particular match, it has to be said that Arsenal were a match for Liverpool for more than 50 minutes. The battle in the middle of the park was fierce, the back line did their job well and the attackers certainly caused a few problems to the Liverpool defence, for all their obvious quality. Gabriel Martinelli on the left was a particularly nasty job for Trent Alexander-Arnold, and the young Brazilian glided past the England international on several occasions.
We’re used to seeing Thiago producing chances for his own team with lovely through balls, but Arsenal’s biggest chance of the match was also his work, with Alexandre Lacazette’s alertness paying off. The French striker intercepted a back-pass by Thiago and was off, joined in the attack by Martin Odegaard. It was the Norwegian who was supposed to put the chance away, but he was denied by a brilliant save from Alisson Becker.
Thiago made up for his mistake just a few minutes later, taking advantage of Ben White and Cedric Soares leaving the slightest of gaps for him to thread the ball through for Jota’s opener.
A nicely compact back four becomes a loose back three when a full-back makes the wrong decision.
Jota said this was the first time he was given any space and it’s there because Cedric steps to his right. At the back small decisions lead to big outcomes. https://t.co/KNTPNmGbjy pic.twitter.com/v85qdQxrbS
— The Tactical Times (@Tactical_Times) March 17, 2022
It was a fraction of a second where two players in that back line (Mane helped distract White while Cedric obviously expected Thiago to pass wide) made the wrong call, and it all unraveled from there. Liverpool took more control over the proceedings and from that point on, it was more about whether Liverpool would score again than about Arsenal finding an equalizer.
What appears to have won this game for Liverpool is the fact that Jurgen Klopp’s team is a more mature unit, as a whole, with years of winning behind them. It tends to play a crucial role when a team needs to limit the quality and momentum of a difficult opponent, before striking back hard. These Arsenal players and their manager obviously have a long way to go to catch up with Liverpool, but they are on the right track and their supporters should certainly be excited about the future. After all, they are a very young team and most of them haven’t yet set foot into a Champions League match; a fact likely to change very soon.
Records
Hardy a Liverpool match goes by without Klopp’s men breaking some record or another, and this one yielded a couple as well. First of all, it was the third consecutive time they beat Arsenal away, and that’s something they had never done before, either at the Emirates or at the old stadium of Highbury.
Next, congratulations to Andy Robertson on reaching 50 assists in a Liverpool shirt. The way he provided the chance which Firmino turned in was a proof of the rewards of sheer perseverance when others would have lost hope.
Robbo bringing up 5️⃣0️⃣ Reds assists
. . . pic.twitter.com/WvXcjY1yRC
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 16, 2022
On top of that, Liverpool now have three players with 10 or more Premier League assists this season, with Alexander-Arnold on 11 and Robertson sharing the second place in the league with Mohamed Salah on 10. It’s the first time since 2019-20 that three players from the same club have had 10+ assists in a single Premier League season.
Back then – it was Liverpool. And the players? Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Robertson.
This was Liverpool’s 10th triumph over Arsenal in 18 matches since Klopp took over from Brendan Rodgers in 2015. Not since the legendary Bill Shankly (11 wins in 28 matches) has a Liverpool boss achieved that.
Gabriel Martinelli
The young Brazilian is proving a winger from hell for defenders. He seems to cover every definition of fast for a football player; he’s got pace to burn, he can change gear or direction in a flash, his feet are incredibly quick and skillful on the ball.
Alexander-Arnold’s defensive abilities aren’t nearly as bad as some would have you believe, even if they don’t quite match his attacking output, but Martinelli gave the Liverpool right-back so much trouble in this match that captain Jordan Henderson frequently had to make his way over there to help. On one or two occasions, even that wasn’t enough and it was very fortunate for the visitors that centre-back Joel Matip and Alisson Becker in goal were on top of their game.
Klopp recently spoke about Martinelli, lavishing enormous praise on his talents. In October 2019, when his team came up against this player, the German tactician labeled him as ‘the talent of the century’. Arsenal did well to acquire his services from Ituano FC in July that year, and Martinelli himself recently said he would love to remain an Arsenal player for the rest of his career.
But if the recent history and current affairs in football are anything to go by, Arsenal will have to continue climbing the ladder in English football until they reach the very top, and then stay there, if the 20-year-old is to stay at the Emirates for years to come. They don’t need to worry too much about that just yet, as long as they make the Champions League, as his contract runs until the summer of 2024 and they have an option to extend it by further 12 months. But money talks and if Arsenal do not return to the top soon, he might be tempted to push for a move. There will surely be plenty of suitors among the biggest clubs in Europe, ready to pay big for his signature.
Liverpool and the title race
With just one point separating Manchester City at the top of the league and Liverpool, the title race is truly on, even though a month ago it seemed over. A few slips from the defending champions have allowed the Merseysiders to creep in, and Pep Guardola and his players will be casting a fearful look over their shoulder, not to mention the fact that Liverpool are scheduled to come to the Etihad on April 10th. The two teams may yet meet in the Champions League and the FA Cup as City look to shake Liverpool off and Liverpool seek to add to the Carabao Cup they’ve already won this season.
If City and Liverpool are drawn to play against each other in the Champions League quarterfinals, they will play three matches against each other in a week in April.
Guardiola took charge at City in the summer of 2016, and having watched Chelsea lift the title in his first season in England, he has led his team to three league titles in the four seasons completed since. The one that got away from them was taken by Liverpool in 2019-20, after the Merseysiders pushed them to the last round of the 2018-19 as well. And now, Liverpool are breathing down their necks again.
Last month, Guardiola was asked to name a team that could knock them out of the Champions League this term, and he was pretty clear on that.
“Liverpool. They are six points behind us, Liverpool are the bigger rivals in the past seasons, always there. They are a pain in the a** all the time. They are a fantastic team in Europe.”
Liverpool have indeed won the Champions League under Klopp, a trophy which still eludes Guardiola at City.
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
