16 Conclusions on Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal: Saliba, Rice, Odegaard’s handball, Klopp’s substitutions

Liverpool and Arsenal were phenomenal defensively with wasteful, stuttering attacks undermining any hope of striking a title blow. A point apiece was fair.

1) Considering the ludicrous emphasis placed in most quarters on the result of this single fixture, a draw was the most predictable result. And ultimately, on the balance of play, the fairest. Arsenal and Liverpool were rough equals over 90 tempestuous minutes which might have reached the boiling point it intermittently threatened to, had anyone managed to stay on their feet for long enough at a curiously frictionless Anfield.

They each had 13 shots, possession was shared almost perfectly and, of perhaps the most importance, both fanbases can feel aggrieved at a refereeing performance which probably should have seen Martin Odegaard punished for playing basketball in the penalty area, and Wataru Endo sent off for committing one of the game’s seemingly many thousand exact same fouls while on a booking.

It was a fine point for Arsenal, as is any draw at Anfield. It was a fine point for Liverpool, as is any draw against Arsenal. It is the least satisfactory outcome in terms of taking post-match stock but while the build-up almost always over-promises, this hardly underdelivered with more than half of the race left to run.

2) The match neatly encapsulated the strengths and weaknesses of both teams. Arsenal allowed it to descend into the sort of chaotic back-and-forth which undid them in the same fixture eight months ago, while their attack remains wonderful yet simultaneously frustratingly shorn of a ruthless, instinctive finisher. But their start was electric and Liverpool’s threat was largely contained by that stunning central axis of Saliba-Gabriel-Rice; not since last season have the hosts been restricted to so few shots at Anfield.

Liverpool’s decision-making in attack was not quite as debilitating as it was against Manchester United but it scuppered any hope of using Mo Salah’s temporary outbreak of individual brilliance as a platform upon which to build. But they dominated the best team in the country for half an hour from the restart and it was one of their better defensive displays in some time after the opening 15 minutes.

It was not at the level of those heavyweight slogs between Liverpool and Manchester City of seasons past, but then neither are Liverpool or Manchester City as teams. Arsenal and Liverpool both having periods of sustained superiority against opponents who are this good and are trying to stop them is testament to their respective quality. And both having such obvious room for improvement is as much a positive as it is a negative.

3) But simply assessing the game’s best players allows for a conclusive enough grasp of its plot. Gabriel, Ibrahima Konate, William Saliba, Virgil van Dijk, Declan Rice and Endo were all sensational. It is a long list before reaching Salah, who qualifies for recognition only through a sublime goal which did not match the rest of his output.

If defence truly does win you titles then on the basis of this meeting alone, both teams have earned their credentials in the running. Alisson and David Raya were fine but neither made a notable save, which tells you something about the effortless excellence of those directly in front of them.

4) Saliba and Van Dijk were close to faultless, save for the latter asking Chris Kavanagh whether he had been drinking after being penalised for fouling Gabriel Jesus on the halfway line. Their defending in the channels was monstrous.

Konate conversely started the game poorly but grew into it with remarkable character, overcoming a silly early foul on Kai Havertz which was compounded when he contributed to letting Gabriel roam the penalty area unmarked from the subsequent free-kick. The Arsenal centre-half made no mistake with the header.

While he could easily have crumbled thereafter, Konate was impeccable. His cover defending to thwart Gabriel Martinelli’s perennial threat on the counter was particularly wonderful, with two late blocks from long-range Oleksandr Zinchenko and Rice strikes simply underlining his belligerence.

5) Liverpool hadn’t had a touch in the Arsenal half by the time they conceded; the rapid start they made at home to Manchester United last week was mirrored as the Gunners sought to establish an early foothold.

By half-time, one boffin – Mark Carey of The Athletic – noted that 43 per cent of Arsenal passes went forward, their highest such percentage in any Premier League first half this season. It was a deliberate and brave tactic which sought to create quick attacks and quell that raucous atmosphere Jurgen Klopp requested and received.

6) But Liverpool deserve credit for their response, which came after Havertz almost intercepted a Curtis Jones backpass, before Jesus shot over at the end of an attack stitched together by those rapid, progressive passes from Odegaard, Havertz and Bukayo Saka.

A foul on Salah by Rice presented Liverpool with an opportunity around 40 yards out, the free-kick played short and soon in the direction of the Egyptian forward. He looked to touch it beyond Odegaard and into the area, but the Arsenal captain blocked the ball’s path with his outstretched left hand while slipping.

It obviously should have been a penalty but it was entirely worth it to hear the explanation given for not awarding it: that Odegaard’s arm was going back into his body as it was falling. And to be fair, it was. It just happened to help him complete a basketball dribble in the process.

7) That situation was mercifully not the game-deciding moment it might otherwise have been, as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah combined soon after to produce a stunning goal. The former’s pass was complemented by the latter’s purposeful run and searing finish.

It was poor defending from Zinchenko, backing off before dangling a vague leg in Salah’s direction as he glided past. That was the story for most of their individual battle, which was dangerously one-sided early on. One attack saw Zinchenko completely ignore the threat of Salah at the back post to ‘help’ Saliba challenge Cody Gakpo for a header, while the Ukraine captain struggled to cope for long periods. Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu cannot return soon enough for these fixtures in particular.

READ MORE: Liverpool extend lead as Aston Villa climb into top three of ‘fun to watch’ Premier League table

8) The diagnosis was not a positive one: Kostas Tsimikas has a broken collarbone and will join Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara, Andy Robertson, Diogo Jota, Alexis Mac Allister and Stefan Bajcetic in the treatment room. But his touchline tussle with Saka was precisely as the Arsenal forward termed it: “shoulder to shoulder” and “50/50”. It was an incredibly unfortunate outcome and these things can happen.

On as his replacement to fulfil the role he was first used in as a Liverpool player when he signed more than eight years ago, Joe Gomez was great at left-back; he will have to be as their best option there. Despite coming on in the 35th minute, no player made more tackles and only Salah and Jesus had more shots.

Without the versatility of Gomez, Liverpool’s season might have unravelled long ago. He has been reliably brilliant across the entire backline in the most testing of circumstances and this was no different.

9) With that said, that moment just before half-time when Gomez stumbled past Benjamin White and into the area from a Van Dijk ball over the top, before digging out the most awkward half-cross possible intended for Salah at the back post but getting nowhere near, was exceptional work. He really is gloriously uncomfortable in attack, even if he did nearly curl one in at the start of the second half.

10) Arsenal were promising to collapse in on themselves at that point. For a good five minutes or so after the restart, it seemed as though every visiting player wanted to take too many extra touches on the ball. Odegaard and Zinchenko gave it away in their own half on multiple occasions trying to half-heartedly dribble through the press.

Odegaard, slight handball aside – you can spot it from certain angles on a replay – was otherwise positive in a deep-lying role, assuming a huge amount of responsibility in the build-up. One instance saw him swarmed by three Liverpool players at once on the edge of his own area, only to squeeze a chipped pass out to White. But when even the captain started to steer the ship into choppy waters, everything seemed to be headed only one way. For a quarter of an hour from the 42nd minute, Liverpool had five unanswered shots and should have made so much more of their ascendancy.

11) The tide turned again upon the substitutions. Liverpool made three, with Darwin Nunez, Harvey Elliott and Ryan Gravenberch replacing Luis Diaz, Gakpo and Jones, while Martinelli made way for Leandro Trossard.

Liverpool remained on the front foot for a time after, but the removal of Jones in particular stunted their counter-pressing. The 22-year-old remains a divisive figure among the fanbase but the hosts were considerably better with him than without.

Those changes were made in the 68th minute and Liverpool did not muster a single shot from the 76th onwards, their last being a poor Nunez header from a corner. Salah moving central to accommodate the Uruguayan felt like a mistake both at the time and in hindsight and any attacking impetus the Reds had was squandered.

12) Arteta made his typical substitutions of Trossard for Martinelli and, later, Eddie Nketiah replacing Jesus. The same problems unsurprisingly persisted: the final ball.

Even when that was present, it was pointless. Around the hour mark, both Jesus and Saka drove tempting low crosses along the six-yard box but no teammate showed the instinct or awareness to attack the space, lurking instead on the edge of the area or pulling their runs in anticipation of a cutback.

Arteta will doubtless be considering his options but without that true central focal point, Arsenal will always lack something; it is just a case of whether what this current system brings outweighs that. And it is so exceptional defensively that it just might.

13) One attack summed Arsenal up quite succinctly. Jesus broke loose and slid a through ball in behind for Saka, who had to slow his run ever so slightly to gather it in stride. That did bring him closer into the orbit of Gomez but the England forward still had time and space to shoot as Alisson advanced.

Instead, Saka sort of dribbled around Alisson and passed the ball five yards to no-one, Martinelli soon running onto it to be greeted by Konate, Alisson and three defenders on the line as the move fizzled out. Again, Havertz was waiting on the edge of the area for a pass despite there being a vast space around the penalty area to amble into.

Martinelli eventually just fired wide and Saka might ultimately have been offside anyway, but it was Arsenal’s attack in an awkward, unsightly microcosm.

Thanks to the game director for letting us pore over a replay of a decent but relatively routine touch by Alexander-Arnold instead, mind. Really appreciated that.

14) The last true chance was so farcical that neither side dared create another. From an Arsenal corner, a combined Odegaard and Zinchenko air-kick collision allowed Salah to lead what was ostensibly a five-on-two Liverpool attack but which really was the Egyptian forward, Elliott, Gravenberch and Alexander-Arnold in a handicap match against the backtracking Rice.

The Arsenal midfielder did not do much beyond forming what should have been a forlorn final stand. Salah waited until the perfect moment to shift the ball across to the three players waiting to his right, the furthest of which clattered his shot against the crossbar and back out. The ball did bobble just before Alexander-Arnold’s shot, but it was still a fine margin between one point and three and squandering that specific opportunity in any way is close to unforgivable with the stakes so high.

Fuuuuuck pic.twitter.com/5KU8XMI1cE

— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) December 23, 2023

15) “In the last 20 minutes I think that the team was very willing to win it and they were really dominant and really wanted to go and get the three points,” said Arteta, with Klopp saying that Liverpool “were not that much in control anymore” after the Alexander-Arnold chance as Arsenal were “directly back again in the game”.

The visitors controlled the closing stages in not quite the same breathless, incisive style that they did the first, but the very fact they established that foundation in the midst of some strong periods for Liverpool shows just how much they have grown. Their composure was so impressive and Nketiah, while providing no goal threat from the bench, had a mightily effective and highly motivated spoiler cameo; only Jesus was fouled more often for either team and that ability to prevent any sort of home pressure from building was invaluable.

16) Not sure it’s possible to get over that handball decision. Absolutely incredible.