please log in to view this image Venue: Anfield Stadium Date: Saturday 23rd December 2023 KO time: 17:30 GMT Overall Record Wins: 82 Losses: 94 Draws: 63 Last six meetings Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal Arsenal 3-2 Liverpool Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool (League Cup) Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal (League Cup) Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
We are there for the taking atm as despite the results our form has been poor for a while and our injury list is growing .
Liverpool are good going forward but I think Arsenal's defence is as good as I've seen in years (despite the odd mistake). Good result for Liverpool last night but hard to take anything out of it as I think West Ham were poor. I think if we get our attack going properly and put Liverpool on the back foot, we win the game. First time in a while I'm going into this game with a bit of confidence. But we can't dwell on the ball as much as we have been and just move it a bit quicker.
Really? We’ve lost 8 and drawn twice in our last 10 meetings at Anfield. We’ve not beaten you at your ground since 2012 (Arteta was still playing for us!). We still have so much to prove away from home against the likes of you and City. I’d honestly be pretty satisfied with a draw if you offered it to me right now.
I think that’s the key thing. We need to be clinical in front of goal. Against Villa, we were the better side and should have won, but wayward finishing and poor execution of the final ball meant we left the game with nothing. It’s annoying both Timber and Tomiyasu are injured at the same time because Zinchenko up against Salah is a total mismatch. As good as the Ukrainian is in possession, he’s not great defending in 1v1s and I worry he’ll get ripped to shreds if he’s not got enough protection. Similarly, White is playing through an injury right now and looks quite knackered. I worry about how he fares against Liverpool’s dynamic and powerful front line too. In terms of options, we’re quite limited defensively at the moment sadly. I hope we can do one better than we did last season at Anfield, but I’m under no illusions it’ll be a Herculean effort required.
Salah very rarely beats his man anymore rather he is now a goal poacher rather than give him the ball and leave it all to him as we did in his pomp .
Martinelli needs to step it up. Saka is delivering the numbers of assists/ goals that we expect but Martinelli is not this Season. People keep pointing to Jesus but for me Martinelli is the one who needs to improve this term.
I agree to an extent, but it’s not all his fault. He’s having to do so much more defensive work than last season (as the stats show) and he is the only option we have out wide who provides natural width because Zinchenko inverts. He has more ground to cover. I think we underestimated how much of the pitch Xhaka/Partey covered last season when Zinchenko came inside. Martinelli needs to be operating closer inside the penalty box because he’s not taking anywhere near as many shots as last season. That’s not a coincidence.
Villa drawing at home to Sheffield United tonight was not a result I expected to see. Needed a 97th minute goal to rescue a point. Means we go into the game at Anfield still top of the league (via goal difference). Let's hope we maintain that position after tomorrow's match.
HT. 1-1. Weird game. We started off so well, got an early goal, had a couple of chances to increase the lead and then we just started standing off and looking to defend/play on the counter. We've not dominated the ball enough and we're playing into their hands by employing these tactics. We're also not pressing/counter-pressing properly because if we were, Trent doesn't play that beautiful pass into Salah for their equaliser. We still had chances to increase the lead - Jesus and Martinelli both should have scored - but ultimately, we're not doing enough to finish our dinner and that will cost us if we don't take the next opportunity IMO. The Salah v Zinchenko worry I had came true, regrettably. The Ukranian just isn't good enough in games like this. This is why it's so annoying both Timber and Tomiyasu are out because if either of them were fit for this, I don't think that goal happens. C'est la vie. Martinelli and Saka both need to up their game because they're both not playing well at all. Any good attacking move is coming through Jesus. We've had the best chances, but we've been second best in the game. We need to perform better in the second half.
FT. 1-1. I’ll always take a point at Anfield, so I’m satisfied with the result. Performance was lacking in an attacking sense and it was infuriating how many times we couldn't get the weight of pass right or took too long to play someone in on goal in the final third. But can’t complain too much considering the game could have swung the other way. Saliba was absolutely outstanding. Deserved MOTM. An absolute gem of a player. Gabriel also played extremely well too. Both of them have a rock solid partnership. Zinchenko had a proper stinker for 55 minutes, but held his own for the majority of the second half. Saka, Martinelli and Odegaard though. Odegaard had a mixed game, but I expected more from the other two and they didn’t deliver unfortunately. Jesus did well considering his lack of service. Overall, a decent result at one of the top 3 toughest grounds in the country. Doesn’t halt our momentum either. Still top of the tree at Christmas. Onto West Ham next
we were both right as we were there for the taking and how did Zinchenko not know that Saka favours his left foot .
To be fair, you played quite well yesterday up until you got into the attacking third. There’s a reason why you haven’t lost a game at Anfield against a top-6 side for over 2 years. Honourable mentions to Konate, VVD, Endo and Trent who all had top games. I was a bit frustrated we didn’t do certain things better when we progressed up the pitch, but like I’ve said, a draw at Anfield is always a respectable result so I’m content with it.
in the end we probably should have won that and is beyond me how var didn't give the handball and we ****ed up a 4 v 1 to win the match .
You were slightly better overall (mainly due to the dominant second half), but I didn't feel like it was a game where you absolutely peppered us compared to the game in April, where Ramsdale won MOTM for making so many saves. We could easily have lost that game 6-2. Whereas yesterday, Raya wasn't tested as much in that sense. Your finishing was poor, but then so was ours every time we ventured into your area. I agree about the penalty decision, though. We got away with one there.
