Free to Read: My 3 Thoughts on Arsenal-Liverpool
Free to Read: My 3 Thoughts on Arsenal-Liverpool
Arsenal beat Liverpool 3-2 in a wild game at the Emirates on Sunday to keep the Gunners atop the Premier League. Here are my three thoughts on the game:
• Arsenal was the better team in the Chaos Game of the Season so far. If the philosophy of Man City’s Pep Guardiola is all about control, this game was all about the lack of it: From Liverpool, which made numerous errors; from referee Michael Oliver, who lost control in the second half; and even at times from Arsenal, which let Liverpool back into the game on two occasions. Yet the errors in this game also led to it being highly entertaining as the two sides lobbed haymakers at each other and Arsenal took the chance in the end to show that in addition to their skill, this Gunners team is also about fight and grit and fearlessness. (Do not try to get in Granit Xhaka’s face, Jordan Henderson.) Liverpool fans may complain that the game-deciding penalty on Thiago Alcântara wasn’t deserved, but I’m not overly bothered by it; Thiago took a swing and didn’t connect with the ball but rather Gabriel Jesus. Arsenal dominated the scoring chances (2.99 xG to Liverpool’s 1.13), and Bukayo Saka’s two goals (including a high-pressure penalty conversion) showed a player who is rising to the occasion. Arsenal is still top of the league, and with its favorable schedule I think it will remain so until after the World Cup break.
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• Liverpool has some major issues to fix. Defensively, the entire team—which is now on 10 points after eight games—has been a mess this season. It’s too easy just to blame Trent Alexander-Arnold, even though in this game he did struggle plenty in moments. But Alexander-Arnold’s teammates know the way the team is set up to attack and to defend, and they’re just not doing enough to cover when TAA gets forward. Virgil van Dijk continues to be off his usual imperious game this season, and Liverpool isn’t winning the ball in the opponent’s half nearly as much it used to. On the attack, Mohamed Salah seems to be less willing to cut inside from his wide position and score goals; when he came off in this game, you knew why. Yes, Darwin Núñez got a much-needed goal, but the most active player who was setting him up, Luis Díaz, had to come off due to injury at a time when he was Liverpool’s best player. The Reds are now 13 points behind Man City and 14 behind Arsenal (with a game in hand on both), and I just don’t see how they can make up that gap.
• I made some good TV decisions this week. The first was watching this game for free on Telemundo instead of the pay-cable USA network. The GOAT Andrés Cantor was in top form, and unlike his English-language counterpart I knew he would pronounce the players’ names the right way. Plus I was able to watch the game without a streaming delay. Beyond that, this week I finally discontinued my YouTubeTV subscription, for which I was paying $64.99 a month just to get games on USA, and replaced it with a Sling TV subscription (at $35.00 a month) for the same thing.
What are your thoughts on the game? You can join the discussion in the comments below.
Doo doo-doo doo-doo doo doo - Saliba! The triple Gabriels, in particular Jesus, are revelations.
Good thoughts. This is a different Arsenal club from the ones we have seen in recent years. In prior years, Liverpool took it to them big time. Today, they were dictating the play for much of the match.