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With Storm Goretti raging, the champions elect hosted the champions.
Arne Slot made one change to the side that drew with Fulham, as Jeremie Frimpong replaced Curtis Jones.
Mikel Arteta made two changes to the team that beat Bournemouth, as Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard replaced Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli.
Liverpool appeared much better organised defensively. They would form a 4-4-2 out of possession, and although they continued to use their usual man-orientations, they communicated well to reorganise when necessary.
For example, in the opening minute, Dominik Szoboszlai realised he needed to be in position to potentially deal with Gabriel Magalhães, so he passed Declan Rice on to Ryan Gravenberch. Seconds later, Rice dropped back into defence, so Gravenberch passed him on to Frimpong, and he took over tracking Piero Hincapié instead. This allowed Liverpool to stick tight to Arsenal players in midfield, making it harder for them to play through the middle.
With Saka and Trossard hugging the touchlines, Liverpool also positioned their full-backs wide in defence. This allowed them to get out to their men quickly, not giving them the space to attack, and so for the most part they kept the Arsenal wingers quiet.
This did however leave large gaps between the Liverpool full-backs and centre-backs though. Arsenal’s full-backs would make runs to exploit these spaces, so in order to stop them Liverpool’s wingers or midfielders, whoever was their marker at the time, would follow them deep. It wasn’t unusual to see Liverpool form a back five or six due to this.
Frimpong and Gravenberch did a really good job of helping Conor Bradley on the right, although Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo did sometimes allow Jurriën Timber to escape them on the opposite flank. Fortunately for Liverpool, Timber’s final ball was often found lacking.
Similarly, Liverpool’s midfielders getting dragged around following their men opened up space for Viktor Gyökeres to drop into, but the Swede doesn’t really have the skillset to take advantage of this, either passing backwards, or beaten to the ball.
Arsenal did however find a way of playing out from the back. All three of their midfielders took it in turns dropping back into defence, forming a back three to outnumber Liverpool’s front two. This allowed Arsenal’s centre-backs to split wide, and receiving the ball in space, they felt comfortable enough to push forward with it into the Liverpool half, and pick out passes.
Although they spent most of the first half pushed back, Liverpool did find themselves able to play out of defence. Arsenal would press in a 4-4-2, but they wouldn’t get close to Liverpool’s players anywhere near quick enough, giving them the time and space to easily move the ball on. Arsenal were quick to drop off once that first line was broken though, and the few times they weren’t, Liverpool’s final ball was poor.
Liverpool were much-improved in the second half. Arsenal would continue to form a makeshift back three, however Liverpool began to pressure them, with one of the attackers curving their run to block off one of the centre-backs while pressing the central man. This cut off the pass wide, turning the 3v2 into a 2v2 and guiding Arsenal to one side to trap them, putting them under more pressure.
With Liverpool playing two midfielders up front, they would drop off, outnumbering Arsenal in midfield, so Liverpool could play through.
This did mean that Liverpool had no one in attack though, so it wasn’t unusual for Liverpool to get the ball forward into a good position, only to have no one there to put the finishing touch to the move.
This was one of Liverpool’s better performances this season. After spending nearly all of the first half defending, they controlled the second. It might have finished goalless, but given expectations going into the match, this was a positive outcome for the Reds.
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