Sports
Arsenal 0 – 0 Liverpool
Arsenal missed the opportunity to go eight points clear at the top of the Premier League as Liverpool battled to a goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium.
There was an expectant atmosphere in north London with Arsenal having the chance to strengthen their bid for a first title in 22 years after Manchester City and Aston Villa dropped points on Wednesday, but things did not follow the script for the Gunners.
After a strong start from the home side, Liverpool went closest to a first-half opener as Conor Bradley hit the bar with a lobbed effort after a mix-up between David Raya and William Saliba.
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Conor Bradley hit the bar after an Arsenal defensive mix-up
Arsenal built momentum again as Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice saw long-range efforts saved by Alisson Becker, but there was no way through a resolute Liverpool defence.
Arne Slot’s side, who extended their unbeaten run in all compeitions to 10 games, took control of the game in the second half as Arsenal faded away.
With the tension from the home fans rising, the Reds dominated possession with Arsenal hardly having a kick, but they could not muster a shot on target with three wayward long-range efforts from Dominik Szoboszlai their best chances.
Substitutes Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli tested Alisson in stoppage time but it proved to be a frustrating night, if not a critical one, for Arsenal, who only extend their advantage at the top to six points when there was the chance for more.
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Gary Neville fumed at Gabriel Martinelli’s behaviour towards an injured Bradley
‘Title far from a formality for lacklustre Arsenal’
Sky Sports’ Nick Wright at the Emirates:
“Arsenal are six points clear. The draw is far from disastrous. But this title is far from a formality if they play as poorly as they did in that second half.
“The Gunners almost nicked it with Gabriel’s header at the end. The defender had his head in his hands.
“But that was one of only three Arsenal shots in the second period, all of which came in stoppage time. Arsenal had just 35 per cent of the possession after the break.
“Liverpool barely had to break a sweat defensively and will feel they should have won it themselves, with Frimpong creating a string of dangerous openings and Bradley hitting the bar in the first half.”
‘Arsenal players went into their shell’ – first sign of Gunners tension in title race?
Arsenal’s Piero Hincapie and Liverpool’s Jeremie Frimpong battle for the ball
Sky Sports’ Roy Keane:
“Arsenal got a bit tentative. All that talk before the game. The longer the game went from Arsenal’s point of view, they probably thought, ‘we’ll take the draw’.
“It’s not the end of the world for them. The worry for them is that Liverpool dominated the game so much.
“It’s the way Arsenal didn’t take the initiative. There was a bit of tension in the stadium. That’ll get worse in the latter part of the season, so that will be a worry. Credit goes to Liverpool in terms of the way they dominated possession.
“Liverpool took the energy out of the stadium perfectly well. Liverpool showed a bit of fight and swagger that they are champions but just lacked that cutting edge.”
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Roy Keane and former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge react to Martinelli trying to push Bradley off the pitch with both pundits in agreement that is was ‘disrespectful’ thing to do
Sky Sports’ Daniel Sturridge:
“It was strange. Arsenal didn’t seem to have any solutions to break Liverpool down.
“Liverpool then took control of the game. Arsenal didn’t take the initiative.
“It did feel like there was tension. It did feel like the players were content. It seemed like the Arsenal players went into their shell a bit.”
‘We’ve come out of a demanding schedule in a strong position’
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on his side’s position at the top of the table after a “demanding” Christmas period:
“We know that the margins are very small. I think we have two different halves.
“The first one, where we have a lot of domination, created big situations with players almost inside the six-yard box to pick a player up, and we didn’t find the right pass to score the goal. And the second half was a bit more of a struggle.
“This game needs some magic moments, and at Anfield, [Dominik] Szoboszlai did it, and they won the game, and today it didn’t happen, but [if] you cannot win it, you cannot lose it.
“We have some moments where we have the right positional advantages to really hurt them, and then when we got into these areas, we lacked quality to pick the players.
“We’ve come from a very demanding schedule. The last six games that we’ve played in this Christmas period, and we’ve come out of that in a really strong position.
“We have to be proud of that position. There are things to improve as always and we keep going.
“You want to take all the opportunities but if that is the case you’d be 12, 15 points clear. This is the Premier League and we know how difficult it is.”
Slot positive about Liverpool performance
Liverpool boss Arne Slot praised his side’s performance:
“We showed the quality to come here and win. In the first half, they were the team that played the most in our half.
“It led to some moments in crosses but not too many chances. In the second half, it was exactly the opposite, where we dominated the ball for almost the whole 45 minutes in their half.
“The only thing we missed from us, not for the first time, is the moments around the box.
“You’re hoping to create even more chances, but against an Arsenal team that has great momentum, to put a performance like this is something I’m very positive about.”
