On Thursday evening, the Emirates Stadium saw the postponed League Cup semi-final second leg tie between Arsenal and Liverpool. After holding Liverpool to a goalless draw at Anfield with ten men in the first leg and being in their best form for the last four or five years, Arsenal didn’t look like pushovers against Jürgen Klopp’s Premier League and Champions League-winning side. Again, the away the goal rule not being used in the English League Cup looked like another factor that could help the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta made three changes to the team that kept a clean sheet against Liverpool last week: Takehiro Tomiyasu reclaimed his post at right back, replacing the injured Cédric Soares; Granit Xhaka, suspended due to the red card that he received in the first leg, made way for now COVID-free Martin Odegaard, and Emile Smith Rowe, who recently recovered from a groin injury, was named in the starting line-up at the expense of Eddie Nketiah. Also, Thomas Partey’s return from the AFCON, where his side Ghana exited the tournament in the group stage, resulted in his involvement, starting on Arteta’s bench.
Klopp rewarded 17 year-old Kaide Gordon, who scored in the FA Cup against Shrewsbury, by naming him in the starting eleven instead of Takumi Minamino, while Curtis Jones came in for James Milner.
In the opening 20 minutes of the game, Arsenal looked on top, piling up corners and pressing high. In the 5th minute, Alexandre Lacazette’s shot from a free-kick, conceded by Andrew Robertson’s foul on Bukayo Saka as Liverpool failed to get out of their half, was pushed onto the crossbar by Caomihin Kelleher’s fingers.
They adopted a 4-1-3-2 shape when pressing high. Smith Rowe pushed forward to form a 2 man line with Lacazette to control Liverpool’s centre backs, stopping them from playing balls into their midfield, whereas Gabriel Martinelli and Saka covered the flanks in order to disrupt Trent Alexander-Arnold and Robertson. Odegaard controlled the area left by Emile Smith Rowe as he joined Lacazette, with help from Martinelli and Saka. Most importantly, the backline of Gunners followed the deep runs of Liverpool’s attackers, hampering the Reds from building from the back. With Albert Sambi Lokonga staying central in order to control both Jordan Henderson’s and Jones’ deep runs to retrieve the ball and get involved in the build-up, plus Gabriel and Ben White constantly sharing the duty to follow false nine Roberto Firmino, even sometimes into Liverpool’s half, Arsenal’s plan of pressing Klopp’s men high seemed to be flourishing.
Liverpool’s first presence in the game occurred in the 12th minute. From a corner which was taken by Robertson, the set piece specialists scored a soon overruled goal through the foot of Jol Matip, who tapped in Fabinho’s header when offside. But in the 19th minute Liverpool covered the pitch with haste and found Diogo Jota via Alexander-Arnold; the Portuguese nutmegged Takehiro Tomiyasu, dribbled for fifteen yards and placed the ball superbly into the low left corner of Aaron Ramsdale’s goal, giving Liverpool the lead with his 13th goal of the season in all competitions.
After taking the lead, Liverpool took control of the ball with the confidence expected of a team possessing an amazing record in the games in which they have scored first, playing 32, winning 27 and drawing 5 since February 2021. With Arsenal dropping the intensity of their high press to defend in the low block, they adopted a 4-4-2 shape, keeping their duo of Lacazette and Smith Rowe, while Odegaard, Martinelli and Saka dropped back to form a line of four with Lokonga. Their 4-4-2 converted into a 5-3-2 from time to time when Lokonga followed the runs of Liverpool’s midfielders into and around of Arsenal’s box.
In the 28th minute, Arsenal couldn’t convert their breakthrough on the counter-attack into an end product thanks to an amazing last-man tackle by Fabinho, who stripped the ball from the on-form Martinelli after he beat defensive powerhouse Virgil van Dijk, before the youngster could shoot with his left.
After the breakthrough of Martinelli, Liverpool also dropped their pressing intensity, enabling Arsenal to start building from the back. They kept their offensive shape of 4-2-3-1 when building, with Odegaard simply progressing the ball by himself. The Norwegian’s calm both lifting up his teammates and helping them carry the ball into Liverpool’s half with proper organisation.
With Kieran Tierney and Saka trying to stretch the Liverpool defence, Odegaard and Smith Rowe tried to pair up in the middle of the park and create something for their side. Tomiyasu and Sambi Lokonga backed up the talented attacking players, trying to provide cover for the relentless counter-attacks of Liverpool. Lacazette stepping on Jones’ foot and receiving a yellow card as punishment was the only significant event of the remainder of the first half, as the teams went to the dressing rooms with the Reds ahead by one goal.
At the start of the second half, both teams made no tactical changes, Klopp brought on Ibrahima Konaté from the bench, substituting the not fully fit Matip.
The Gunners started the second half with the same intensity that they showed at the start of the first half. They pressed high, forcing Liverpool players to make up their minds quickly, and their plan came to fruition when Lacazette ran behind Liverpool’s defensive line to meet a great lobbed pass by Lokonga – the Frenchman controlled the ball superbly but couldn’t apply the finishing touch under pressure by Robertson.
The absence of the offensive stars of Liverpool finally made itself clear in the 51st minute. Jota claimed a high ball from Van Dijk’s clearance and dribbled for almost 40 yards, taking on Ben White in the process. He cut the ball back for Gordon, who was completely free on the edge of the six-yard box, yet failed to score, putting the ball over the goal.
Three minutes later, the Gunners struggled again with the Liverpool attack after a great pass by Alexander-Arnold, who is ranked only behind Thomas Müller and Lionel Messi in assists supplied since August 2018, set Fabinho free. Fabinho played the ball to Jones, who had a clear shooting view of the goal, but couldn’t control the ball and Tomiyasu was able to clear. Again, just 4 minutes later, Arsenal had a close call when half-time substitute Konaté’s head met Alexander-Arnold’s corner, hitting the post, and Liverpool captain Henderson, offside anyway, failed to tap in the spoils.
Alexander-Arnold kept delivering though. In the 62nd minute, the Liverpool full-back crossed early and low from the right hand side and played a great ball into Arsenal’s box, which Tierney failed to clear but Gordon failed to finish, and Konaté was booked for cutting short Arsenal’s resulting counter.
Straight after, Klopp made his second change of the match, taking off Gordon to the bench for Takumi Minamino in order to bring dynamism to Liverpool’s attacking trio. Liverpool didn’t have to wait long for another chance to appear. Minutes later, Minamino shot the ball at Martinelli from another Alexander-Arnold cross.
Liverpool’s pressure on the Gunners finally forced Arteta to make changes in order to change the course of the match. He brought on Eddie Nketiah and Thomas Partey at the expense of the tired Lacazette and Smith Rowe, but even these substitutions couldn’t prevent the inevitable. In the 79th minute, Jota was through on goal with another amazing pass from Alexander-Arnold and the Portuguese made it 2-0 for the Reds, controlling the high ball brilliantly and chipping Ramsdale. The goal was first overruled by the linesman but it stood after a VAR check, and Liverpool were cruising into the final of the League Cup.
Two goals down, Arsenal dropped the intensity of their play and were not able to create anything significant in the remainder of the game, with Liverpool just focused on counting the remaining minutes. Partey’s booking in the 87th minute turned into a red card in the 90th, dropping the Gunners’ number of available senior midfielders for the match against Burnley on Sunday back to two.
The game ended 2-0 and Liverpool got their tickets to Wembley, where they will play a final against Chelsea for the Carabao Cup after 10 years.
The game was all about the great Alexander-Arnold, who provided two assists for Jota, maintaing his amazing record of scoring against Arsenal. Even though they got beaten, Arsenal looked sharp, dynamic and showed again that they are ready to challenge their opponents at any level after their late loss against Manchester City. Counting also the great performance by Martinelli in a starting line-up with an average age of 23, Arsenal seemed to chase away the dark clouds that have been over the club since the departure of the great Arsene Wenger.
You can follow Görkem on Twitter.
If you enjoy these posts, please consider subscribing to our Patreon or making a one-off donation. For just €2.99, you can get access to premium videos and training sessions.
No responses yet