LIVERPOOL VS ARSENAL
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MATCH
For David Luiz, this was an introduction to Arsenal and their infamous defensive fragility. For Arsenal, this was an introduction to David Luiz and his infamous defensive fragility. The very thing that Arsenal feared when they signed Luiz from Chelsea came to pass in only his second game as Unai Emery’s side were once again ripped apart by a Liverpool team that seemingly enjoys nothing more than pummelling their visitors from north London.
Make that 15 goals scored by Jurgen Klopp’s team in Arsenal’s last four trips to Anfield. A new season brought new faces and a new threat from Unai Emery’s side, but the same old problems were exposed by the same old faces in red. Chief among them was Mohamed Salah, providing Luiz with a very personal torment in a thrilling second half performance that reminded the league just how hard it will be to stop Liverpool this season.
When Luiz swapped Chelsea blue for Arsenal red, he would not have imagined spending his second match trailing after a motoring Salah, watching the Liverpool winger disappear further and further into the distance. Neither would he have envisaged being so careless as to pull Salah’s shirt and award the Egyptian the most foolish of penalties in the crucial moments after half-time.
This, it is safe to say, is not what Luiz was signed for. Where was the defensive leadership, the organisation, the calmness? Frankly, it was all at the other end of the field, where Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk were occasionally ruffled by Arsenal’s attackers but ultimately sturdy under pressure. For all the talk of the opposing strikeforces before the match, it was the defenders who made the difference at Anfield, for good and for bad.
Liverpool go top, then, and they do so with another humbling of a ‘big six’ opponent. The defensive solidity of last season has not yet fully returned, and they still seek a first clean sheet of the campaign after Lucas Torreira’s consolation late strike, but no one can claim it was not a step forward. The sight of Salah scorching past defenders in the second half was both fearsome and familiar.
For Arsenal, who had started the season so impressively, it was a reminder of how much work remains to be done. They had their chances in the first half, when Nicolas Pepe in particular was a constant threat, but they missed them and then, at the back, they messed up.
Luiz was punished for pulling Salah's shirt CREDIT: REUTERS
A trip to Anfield is a test of any side’s bravery, let alone a team that had shipped 12 goals on their last three visits here. Five of those came in Arsenal’s most recent match, a chastening night for Emery and a reminder of the distance between his team and Europe’s elite.
The Arsenal head coach could have been forgiven for taking a more cautious approach, then, by leaving Alexandre Lacazette on his bench and Mesut Ozil out of his squad altogether. There was a first start for Nicolas Pepe, though, the club-record signing, and Arsenal began the match with a genuine boldness in possession as they attempted to play out from the back against Liverpool’s trademark high-energy pressing.
Liverpool smelled blood whenever the ball was zipped around the Arsenal penalty area, seizing on the multiple opportunities to charge and snarl with a choreographed menace. Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold were swirling crosses into dangerous areas, just out of reach of Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane was soon denied by Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno after a loose pass by Dani Ceballos.
It must have felt like being buffeted by a familiar red wave for the visitors, but there was encouragement to be found in their attack, where Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang provided so much raw pace on the counter. It helped Arsenal’s cause that Liverpool’s defence, without the security of the injured Alisson Becker, retained the air of vulnerability that has crept in this season.
Not for the first time in recent weeks, the kicking of replacement goalkeeper Adrian was a source of concern for Klopp. A poor clearance went straight to Aubameyang, whose lobbed effort dropped a yard wide of the post, before Pepe caused panic at Anfield with his direct running. The Ivorian curled one effort wide, following good work from the industrious Joe Willock, then sliced through the home defence with such blistering speed that even the great Virgil van Dijk appeared ruffled. Only a dreadfully tame finish prevented Arsenal from taking the lead.
Emery would have known already that you have to take your chances at Anfield. Matip provided a painful reminder a few minutes after Pepe’s miss, leaping to a height only he could reach and thumping his header, from Alexander-Arnold’s corner, into Leno’s top corner. It was the quality of the delivery, as much as the header itself, which beat the Arsenal defence, and it was Alexander-Arnold’s ninth assist in his last 10 appearances at Anfield. He could have had another before half-time, again from a right-wing corner, had Mane not headed over the bar.
Half-time came at a good moment for Arsenal, but any tactical plans that Emery may have cooked up were soon rendered irrelevant by Salah and, more accurately, Luiz. The Arsenal defender’s shirt-pull was a blatant as they come, and Salah slammed the resultant penalty into the top corner.
Still Arsenal threatened on the break, with Aubameyang being shut out by Matip, but Liverpool poured forward like red lava seeping through the cracks in the visiting defence. Alexander-Arnold was charged down and Salah headed over as Arsenal wobbled.
The third came soon enough, with Salah leaving Luiz in his wake, burning past Nacho Monreal and sliding a low finish into Leno’s bottom corner. Too powerful, too fast and simply too good for an Arsenal defence that clearly has a long way to go before it can be considered a major improvement on last season. Their goal, fired low into the corner by Torreira, was just reward for their attacking play. The final result, however, was just reward for Luiz’s defending.
