"This is unacceptable", "You have no excuses" - Arsenal fans pinpoint the main reason for Liverpool loss 

Arsenal fans on X (formerly Twitter) are blaming Mikel Arteta for the team's loss to Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, August 31. Many believe that the manager's approach to the game was negative and that he made mistakes, starting with the team news.

Both sides went into the match at Anfield after winning their opening matches of the season. Dominik Szoboszlai scored the lone goal of the match, a stunning free kick in the second half, to make it three wins in three for Arne Slot's side.

Following the result, Arsenal fans were highly critical of Arteta, who had gone into the game with a defensive midfield approach, starting Mikel Merino alongside Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice. They believe that the loss was on the manager's decisions and wrote:

Geo

@GeoWordz

That loss is on Arteta. He played for a draw and kept playing for a draw even when Liverpool were there for the taking. It is madness. His in game management is poor and shows no courage. What is the point of spending huge money on elite players if we refuse to act like a top

Archlens

@Archlens_

Arteta, you have had time , money and Quality players This defeat is solely on your inability to be proactive Everyone knew Eze and odg should have come on after the first half. You have no excuses now, and everyone knows. Deliver or say your thank yous and walk Regards -

reeeee

@reeeturdd

lmaoooooooo arteta is wrong with the lineup ngl why he playing for a draw when we have the quality to go toe to toe with liverpool??

| Rdee |

@rdee_crypt001

Arteta really ruined the game fr!😞

Tony Okafor

@DrTonyOkafor

Arteta was negative from get go, so this result wasn’t unexpected

Depressed Gunner

@mr_gunner29

It’s a shame we have a world class striker and we creates zero chances for him in 90 minutes. Today it goes all on you Mr Arteta

However, Arteta believes his players did well and it was a moment of magic that saw them walk away from the match without any points. He told beIN Sports:

"There are two ways to win or lose this match, one is an individual error - it didn't happen The other is a magic moment, unfortunately it happened for Liverpool."

The manager later went on to point at the injury issues at the club as the reason for dropping points at Anfield and said:

“We lost Martin [Odegaard], we lost Kai [Havertz] then we lost Bukayo [Saka] the week before. In the warm up you lose [William] Saliba. It impacts you but I’m really proud of the players and how they reacted. The margin was almost zero.”

The Gunners lost William Saliba in the early minutes of the match after he picked up an ankle injury. Arteta has since revealed that the Frenchman got injured in the warm-up, but tried to play the game.

Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal did well against Liverpool

Mikel Arteta spoke to the media after the 1-0 loss to Liverpool and insisted that the loss was down to just one big moment in the game. He added that the Arsenal players should have done better in the attack and said:

“You cannot dominate here [Anfield] 95 minutes, it’s impossible. You’re going to go through those moments. We navigated without conceding anything but at the end you need to find a way to win the big matches. A lot of times individual moments decide it and unfortunately that was an unbelievable free-kick.”

“You have to put the ball in the back of the net. We were much better than last year when we drew the game. Today we have 3, 4, 5 situations inside the box 1v1. Eze is completely through just to finish the action. You have to put the ball in the net if you want to win.”

Arsenal next play Nottingham Forest on Saturday, September 13. They then travel to Athletic Bilbao for the UEFA Champions League opener.