Ryan Gravenberch admits he found two Arsenal players ‘really difficult’ to play against

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In a rather mundane contest at Anfield, two Arsenal players actually did manage to cause Liverpool problems.

One of the shining lights from the game was Noni Madueke, who impressed on the right side in place of the injured Bukayo Saka.

Ultimately, the problem for Mikel Arteta came from the fact that the Englishman was the only one of Arsenal’s starting attackers to really show up. 

Viktor Gyokeres was left isolated by Arteta’s decision not to start a playmaker in midfield, but when it came to the middle trio, the Arsenal manager was told that he got one thing right. 

• READ MORE: Rio Ferdinand says one Arsenal player must be thinking ‘what is going on’ after Liverpool loss

Ryan Gravenberch was impressed with Arsenal duo

Arsenal were criticised for not being creative against Liverpool, which had a lot to do with Arteta’s decision to play a midfield of Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino. 

While the latter failed to have any impact, Zubimendi and Rice did cause Liverpool problems, as Ryan Gravenberch declared post-match.

“Yes, in the first half, it was really difficult to press them,” Gravenberch said on Liverpool’s official podcast. 

“They always had a solution, and Rice dropped in the midfield to be with Zubimendi, so it was really difficult.”

Though Arsenal’s holding midfielders made things difficult for Gravenberch and co, it wasn’t anything Arne Slot’s side couldn’t solve.

“In the second half, we changed the way that we pressed, and it was really, really better,” Gravenberch added.

Arsenal did a lot right against Liverpool, but just not enough, with the creases needing to be ironed out, which will happen given we’re only three matches into the season. 

Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi will get even better as a pair

Rice and Zubimendi’s partnership isn’t at its best yet, which is to be expected, having only played three Premier League games together.

What’s encouraging is that against Liverpool, the duo managed to trouble the hosts without being at their full capacity.

Combined, Rice and Zubimendi only won four out of 14 duels between them, as per Sofascore, but the problems came from elsewhere. 

The two players are innately good at being a filter-like presence on the ball, with Rice having the most touches of any Arsenal player at Anfield and Zubimendi being able to slow things down when needed.

After a frustrating afternoon on Merseyside, Arteta’s midfield pair can hold their heads high.