Liverpool beat Arsenal 3-1 in the Premier League on Saturday night to renew their quest for a Champions League spot next season in what was a performance that saw them leapfrog the Gunners into third place – for the time being. Goals from Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum gave Jurgen Klopp’s side three much-needed points at Anfield.
In doing so, Liverpool have accomplished the double over Arsene Wenger’s squad, having beaten them 4-3 at the Emirates on the opening day of the season. Danny Welbeck was Arsenal’s only goalscorer in a game where they were outplayed by a well-drilled Liverpool team.
Here are the major talking points from the game.
1) Arsenal’s 4-5-1 formation proved effective – for just nine minutes
It was interesting to see how Wenger planned to deploy the Gunners at Anfield without Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in the lineup. With Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck starting, they lined up in a 4-5-1 formation, presumably to starve Liverpool of space in midfield and hit them on the counter-attack.
However, that plan was torn to shreds within the first 10 minutes of the game. Liverpool’s goal came from a goal kick sent deep into Arsenal’s half. Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin were guilty of leaving too much space between the lines, forcing Laurent Koscielny to step up towards the centre circle to win the header.
When he lost out on the aerial duel, it effectively became a 4-vs-3 situation with the Reds having the upper hand. Roberto Firmino will also count himself lucky to receive the ball from a low cross that missed everybody in the box but the fact that he had time to control the ball and take a shot without any pressure from the defence speaks volumes of how much trouble Arsenal created for themselves.
2) Liverpool far more clinical than Arsenal
It might have easily been a game of two halves had Arsenal been more clinical in the final third. It was Liverpool who rushed out of the gates and tested the vulnerable Petr Cech in goal. Arsenal’s defence simply failed to mark the wide men for both goals and that is exactly how Jurgen Klopp’s men punished them.
In both cases, it was a ball to the man at the far post that did the trick. And in both cases, the said free player had enough time to trap the ball and pick his spot to find the back of the net.
On the other end, Giroud was pretty isolated in the first half and it was only the introduction of Alexis Sanchez for the second half that turned the tide in Arsenal’s favour. He provided the assist for Danny Welbeck’s sumptuous dink over Simon Mignolet before a Giroud header tested the Belgian goalkeeper again.
But that was all the Gunners could muster as Giroud hobbled off with a niggle that had slowed him down for most of the game while Liverpool substitute Divock Origi came on to change the game – first with a header that hit the post and then the final ball for Georginio Wijnaldum to score in stoppage time.
3) Wenger’s decision to drop Alexis Sanchez backfires
Why a manager would bench his best player for a big game was a question that baffled everyone when the starting lineups were announced. With Ozil already out due to illness, why would you bench your only other world class attacker – and also the Premier League’s top goalscorer – who could truly make a difference?
Whether it was to rest him before what is essentially a dead rubber against Bayern Munich or whether it was to send a message to him that he was not indispensable following his various antics this season (and the contract impasse), Wenger chose the wrong night to do so.
“We’re going with Giroud and Welbeck up front because we will need to be a bit more direct and strong in the air.” – Wenger
Except this was never going to work without any service from the wings. Hector Bellerin had his hands full with Philippe Coutinho while Nacho Monreal had the slippery Sadio Mane to deal with – meaning both full-backs were pegged near the half-line.
Alex Iwobi played a central role while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the only one who managed to put in a cross or two which were easily dealt with by the centre-backs.
The result? Arsenal were absolutely dire in the first half and looked like a team without a soul. Going two goals down at Anfield in 40 minutes saw a visibly defeated and frustrated Wenger on the bench.
4) Francis Coquelin has reached a nadir
Francis Coquelin turns 26 in a couple of months, has played more than 130 games for Arsenal and looks nowhere close to the finished product. Once the controversial star of debates on stats for the best defensive midfielders in the league, his fall from grace over the past year has been alarming.
At Anfield, it seemed like a repeat of his Champions League performance at the Allianz Arena. The first half was littered with errors and it was bizarre to see him fail at his primary duty – giving the back four a shield.
The French midfielder was easily shrugged off the ball even against opponents who aren’t supposed to have the size and strength to beat him in a physical duel. Adam Lallana had been instructed to make diagonal runs through Arsenal’s midfield and it was a ploy that worked to disturb Coquelin’s focus.
Unlike Granit Xhaka, Coquelin is weak on the ball when put under pressure and Liverpool’s midfielders did well to swarm him when they had the chance. It is only Wenger’s injury crisis in midfield that keeps Coquelin in the starting lineup and it came as no surprise when he was taken off at half-time with the Gunners needing goals.
5) Can Liverpool push on for a top four finish?
Yet another top-six opponent, yet another win for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and they are back in the top four. While Arsenal did everything in their power to play like a mid-table side and frustrate Liverpool, in the end, it was the home side that had put some demons to rest to get back to winning ways.
Philippe Coutinho looked reinvigorated – the constant fouling by Arsenal players definitive proof that he was a nuisance near the final third – while Roberto Firmino scored his first goal since January to end his goalscoring drought at a shade over nine hours.
However, there were stages when it looked like the Reds were running on empty and Klopp does not exactly have quality options on the bench. If Liverpool are to sustain this kind of high-intensity game over a season, Klopp needs better resources at his disposal.
The fixture list is relatively kind to Liverpool and they only have Manchester City left to play among the top six. But City and Arsenal still have a game in hand. This is only the Reds’ second league win in 2017 and Klopp needs to steer clear of the results that made for a forgettable January period if the Anfield side are to qualify for the Champions League come May.
