Liverpool vs Arsenal - Premier League (20/21 - Game 3)

[Mark79]

Best keeper in the world. Could make a case for Oblak but Alisson is a far better fit for us.

Best RB in the world. No question imo

Best LB in the world. Could make a case for Alphonso Davies

Best CB in the world, undoubtedly

Best DM in the world

Top 3 CM in the world (Thiago). Who is up there with him...Kroos, De Bruyne...?

Best wide left forward in the world

Best front three in the world. Could make a case for PSG, no doubt, and Bayern also. But I'd take ours.

Best manager in the world, no question

Best sporting director in the world

Bit of a joke really isn't it

And then there's Salah!

His numbers alone put him among both Liverpool's and the league's all time greats.

[Shaggy]

Like Alex said, just wanted to sidestep a difficult issue.

Heard people saying it's our best squad for 30 years. It's our best squad ever imo. I don't remember the 1987-88 squad having this much depth, this many options. Our back up was the likes of Barry Venison, Nigel Spackman, Kevin MacDonald and an ageing John Wark.

[Saveloy]

I've got a bit more time for the Athletic after a good win.

Intensity is Liverpool's identity again after killing Arsenal game plan


“Our identity is intensity.”

It’s a phrase Jurgen Klopp and Pep Lijnders regularly utter. It’s there in giant letters in the artwork on the wall outside Anfield’s home dressing room.

Those four words serve as a reminder to their Liverpool players about what both manager and assistant regard as non-negotiable.

No backward steps, no retreating into their shell, no compromising their beliefs. The new Premier League champions are at their best when they are playing on the front foot, going full throttle and seizing the initiative.

They are encouraged to be brave and bold. They are ordered to take risks rather than be cautious. Deviate from that bullish approach and Klopp believes their collective powers are diminished.

For those desperately looking for chinks in Liverpool’s armour, their previous two meetings with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal had provided case studies in hope — a 2-1 away defeat in July, then last month’s loss on penalties in the Community Shield.

With one of those setbacks coming after Liverpool had already won the title and the other being just a glorified friendly, they were hardly cause for serious concern at Melwood. However, there were parallels between the two games and lessons to be learned, given that they were found wanting at both ends of the pitch.

Liverpool had 69 per cent possession at the Emirates and 60 per cent at Wembley, but failed to make it count. Arsenal had showcased their greater resilience and organisation under Arteta by defending in numbers, standing firm and then exerting sufficient pressure of their own on the counter to force some sloppy mistakes.

Virgil van Dijk and Alisson were left red-faced in the league defeat, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s emphatic Community Shield opener stemmed from Arsenal’s ability to beat an unconvincing press deep in their own half before switching play intelligently to exploit the space.

The resurgent Londoners had the blueprint to frustrate Liverpool, but by half-time at Anfield on Monday night that plan lay in tatters. Liverpool’s 2-1 lead, courtesy of goals from Sadio Mane and Andy Robertson, didn’t do justice to the scale of their dominance.

This was the same Arsenal as in those two most recent battles between the clubs, but a very different Liverpool.

“Dwell on nothing, be in every moment of the contest and show humility in your approach by recognising that you have to work harder than your opponent before you can even think about winning. Our intensity shows our humility,” Klopp wrote in his programme notes for this match.

His players carried out those orders to a tee. Arsenal simply weren’t allowed to settle. They were suffocated by the mass of red shirts which flew at them.

As the visitors persevered with trying to play out from the back, they were forced to repeatedly cough up possession. Liverpool were relentless, like a pack of wolves who hadn’t fed for a week. This was the perfect show of controlled aggression.

Naby Keita, who didn’t start at either the Emirates or Wembley, was so advanced at times that Klopp was effectively playing with a front four to torment Arteta’s back line. Passing lanes were repeatedly cut off.

The tactically astute Keita is enjoying the best spell of his Liverpool career. Behind him, fellow midfielders Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum worked tirelessly to retain control. Nobody on the field won the ball back as often as Fabinho (11), who also made three tackles (only Rob Holding had more with four) and a game-high three interceptions.

On one of the rare occasions that the visitors successfully evaded the press, they grabbed a surprise lead. But that owed everything to Robertson’s error from Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ cross, which put a chance on a plate for Alexandre Lacazette.

At that point, midway through the first half, Liverpool had enjoyed 75 per cent of the possession. The goal was one of only two touches Arsenal had inside their penalty box in the opening 45 minutes.

The response from the Scotland captain and his team-mates spoke volumes about Liverpool’s mentality and mindset. They upped the tempo even further and nine minutes after going behind, they were in the lead.



Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin, who were repeatedly targeted by Van Dijk’s piercing, long diagonal passes, couldn’t handle the pace, power and trickery of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, who combined for the equaliser.

Lijnders talks about Liverpool’s “dream team goal” being the two full-backs combining to score and the Dutchman punched the air in delight on the touchline at the sight of Robertson coolly steering home a cross from the outstanding Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Much has been made about Liverpool’s high defensive line but for Klopp, it’s about maximising their chances of winning the ball back as far up the field as possible by squeezing the play. There’s risk attached to this, given the space you leave in behind, but it’s far outweighed by the potential rewards.

Yes, Lacazette had a glorious chance to restore parity just after the hour when Alisson came to the rescue but by then Liverpool should have been out of sight. It was crazy that the points were only secure late on when substitute Diogo Jota marked his Premier League debut for the club with a clinical finish.

“This performance… absolutely wow. The football we played was exceptional. From the first second, dominant against a team in form,” buzzed Klopp, who spoke about how Liverpool had “killed” Arsenal’s game plan.

The manager was as combative post-match as his team had been on the field as he took Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane to task for labelling Liverpool “sloppy” at times.

What Klopp hadn’t heard before he stepped up to the microphone was Manchester United great Keane, through gritted teeth, describe them as “like a machine, one of the fittest teams around. There was no let-up”.

For Arteta, it wasn’t just the manner in which Liverpool’s high press rattled his team but also how the hosts repeatedly avoided running into the same kind of trouble themselves at the other end.

“Van Dijk plays a 60-yard pass into Salah’s chest and they are out. Now that’s real quality,” he said.

“They dominate every aspect of the game. They have a lot of belief in the way they play. They have set the bar at a height the Premier League has not seen for many years. It’s the hardest ground to come to.”

Praise indeed. It’s still early days, but any talk about Liverpool’s levels dipping appears fanciful. Having already won at Stamford Bridge, they burst Arsenal’s balloon last night without using either Jordan Henderson or Thiago Alcantara.

Klopp’s men look as hungry as ever and when that desire is twinned with their array of quality it’s a potent mix.

Their identity is intensity.

(Photo: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

[Fivex]

Great read

[Saveloy]

It's the first time I've seen Keita referred to as 'tactically astute'

[spud_gun]

Keita's 5th start in a row last night. Equals his longest starting run since he joined.

[frank the tank]

Arteta was under no illusion, he knows his football. He mentioned that Liverpool would pull you in to press them high, then Virgil will hit a bullet 60 yard pass straight to Salah's chest. He proceeded to slap his chest in an impressed manner. Some managers get it. Lots don't. Commentators, forget it.

Arteta seems to be a good manager. Wonder will city go for him when pep ****s off

[Big-Red-Ed]

We must be an absolute pain in the ass to play. We will be giving teams a collective anxiety attack

Sent from my SM-G985F using Tapatalk

[Fredo]

It's the first time I've seen Keita referred to as 'tactically astute'

I must have mentioned this waay before this article when he was getting pelters on here.

He has had to adapt and now we are seeing the fruit of it. His game is much more controlled now. He was one of the main reasons why Aubemayang was completely anonymous last night.

[Scratch]

Arteta seems to be a good manager. Wonder will city go for him when pep ****s off

I think they will, and I think Arteta would turn it down...not because he doesn't want to manage City, but because he won't want to be the man to follow Pep. You'd spend your entire time as the manager being compared to what came just before. Plus, Pep will go at the end of this season and I think Arteta will give Arsenal a few years first.

[Scratch]

Ok, so possibly a silly question but...

...when the cross came in for the Arsenal goal, Lacazette was in an offside position but because Robertson played at the ball and it fell to the striker, the goal stands. OK, all good.

But, if a cross comes in and the defender gets a slight touch from a header and it falls to the striker behind him (who was offside when the cross comes in) then it seems that offside is given. Again, the defender has attempted to play the ball and got a touch on it, but the end result seems to be offside.

Why is one a goal and one not?

[Rigadon]

Ok, so possibly a silly question but...

...when the cross came in for the Arsenal goal, Lacazette was in an offside position but because Robertson played at the ball and it fell to the striker, the goal stands. OK, all good.

But, if a cross comes in and the defender gets a slight touch from a header and it falls to the striker behind him (who was offside when the cross comes in) then it seems that offside is given. Again, the defender has attempted to play the ball and got a touch on it, but the end result seems to be offside.

Why is one a goal and one not?

Not sure if this answers your question; the offside rule did (possibly still does) consider whether the attacking/offside player is ‘interfering with play’.

[S-RED]

i think its because it is now classed as a a new phase of play once Robbo kicks it

[Norbs]

The defender needs to make an effort to get in the way doesn't he? If the ball bounces off his arse then it's still offside IIRC.

Wasn't there a goal scored against us, possibly by Spurs, when Lovren got a touch but was deemed to have made a move towards the ball

I'm probably completely wrong of course

[Scratch]

Not sure if this answers your question; the offside rule did (possibly still does) consider whether the attacking/offside player is ‘interfering with play’.

i think its because it is now classed as a a new phase of play once Robbo kicks it

Both seem plausible reasons...but both kinda 'grey' areas in how an official could interpret them. That's football I guess!