Arsenal were schooled by Liverpool at Anfield on Monday. The defending Premier League champions dominated the game from start to finish and deservedly took all three points. The difference in quality between the two sides was overly-evident throughout the game.
Liverpool are a fully settled side ready to take on the world. Jurgen Klopp’s side have proved their quality already with Champions League and Premier League crowns in back to back seasons, but Arsenal could well have spoiled the party on Monday.
Yes, we could have lost by a lot more and yes, we were lucky at times, but we stayed in the game until the 88th minute. If Alexandre Lacazette finished his chance, we could well have come away with a point, but it wasn’t meant to be.
However, Mikel Arteta has a lot of positives to take from the game. The Arsenal of last year would have lost the game by a lot more, but under the Spaniard, we made Liverpool’s job a lot harder than it has been at Anfield over the years.
Arsenal missed a creative midfielder
In hindsight, not starting Dani Ceballos was probably the wrong call. The Real Madrid man’s introduction in the second half helped us threaten the Reds a lot more. That makes you wonder if the result would have been any different if he played from the start.
Arsenal struggled to beat Liverpool’s press in our own half. We either booted the ball long or lost it to them. That isolated our forwards for most parts of the game, and it took an error from Andy Robertson to give us our only goal.
Arteta needs to find a way to get the ball out of our own half even when we are under pressure. We need a press-resistant midfielder, and at the moment, Ceballos is the closest player who fits that criteria in our whole squad.
Aouar would have helped Arsenal beat Liverpool
That might just be the reason why Arsenal are pushing hard to sign Houssem Aouar. RMC Sport claimed recently that we have had two bids rejected for the Frenchman, but there is a lot of optimism around the club over the completion of the deal despite Lyon’s £54 million asking-price. (L’Equipe)
Aouar is a fantastic dribbler with an incredible vision. He is capable of getting past players with considerable ease, and if Arsenal had him in their lineup on Monday, our attackers would arguably have seen the ball a lot more than they actually did.
Liverpool undoubtedly dominated us on Monday, but they did the same in our last two meetings. Arsenal won both of those games, and if someone like Aouar got the ball behind their midfield regularly, we could well have picked up the victory at Anfield this week.
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