Morning, Arsenal fans!
The 2-2 draw with Liverpool was a difficult one to analyse: a game Arsenal couldn’t afford to lose, appeared on course to win, ultimately drew, and yet might have nicked.
Inside the stadium, there was a real ‘big match’ feel — a far cry from a relatively underwhelming evening against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday. The crowd were up for it from the first whistle and Arsenal responded with an excellent first 45 minutes.
In the second half, however, the game got away from them somewhat — not helped by yet another defensive injury, this time suffered by Gabriel. Here are a few thoughts from the game and a round-up of our coverage for you to digest today.
I hope any disappointment over Liverpool’s equaliser won’t diminish the appreciation for Bukayo Saka’s superb strike. Saka is now the youngest player in Arsenal’s history to reach 50 Premier League goals. I wrote about him, as well as whether this game represented a missed opportunity for Arsenal, in our Briefing piece live from the game.
Alongside Saka, it was a huge boost to see Jurrien Timber in the starting XI. It was always unlikely that he would play the full 90 minutes, but even so, it was a concern to see him come off looking in some discomfort.
Timber comes off against Liverpool (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Arteta said he didn’t know if it was an aggravation of a previous injury or something minor like cramp. His inability to see out the game — as well as Gabriel’s injury — did appear to cost Arsenal. This is something Ahmed Walid will be writing about in his tactical breakdown of the performance against Liverpool. That piece will be being published later today, so watch out for it on your feed.
Something interesting is happening with Arsenal’s left-back hierarchy. Oleksandr Zinchenko has been back with the squad for the last three games, yet has not made it off the bench in any of them. Against Liverpool, as against Shakhtar, Arteta chose instead to use 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Is Zinchenko simply not fit? Has Lewis-Skelly leapfrogged him in Arteta’s pecking order, even if only temporarily? It’s certainly something to keep an eye on.
A draw isn’t a bad result for Arsenal, but I share Amy Lawrence’s feeling in her piece this morning that the team simply aren’t getting the breaks at the moment — especially when it comes to officiating and injuries. There’s plenty of time for that all to change, of course, but Arsenal could do with their luck improving. There’s a tough run ahead, with back-to-back away trips to Newcastle United, Inter Milan and Chelsea.
But before that, there’s the Carabao Cup tie against Preston North End on Wednesday. Forwards!
(Top photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
