Arsenal vs Liverpool - The analysis

A week where Arsenal's highly respectable manager Arsene Wenger faces intense scrutinty by the media aswell as fans for not spending money in the window after letting Francesc Fabregas leave to Barcelona and pending the imminent depature of Samir Nasri.

Arsenal had much bigger problems though this past week, a game against Liverpool where Djourou, Wilshere, Diaby, Song, Gervinho, Gibbs were all missing through either injury or suspension. Eboue had just left for Galatasaray so was also ruled out of the game aswell as Carlos Vela and Denilson who both went out on loan. Liverpool were only without captain Steven Gerrard and full-back Glen Johnson through injury.

Both sides faced dissapointing starts to the season following draws with Sunderland and Newcastle respectively who managed to also share the spoils.

When the team sheets came out Arsenal looked weakened severly by the missing players and Liverpool had only two changes to note from last week's game. Kuyt was to start over Luis Suarez and Martin Kelly started over John Flanagan.

The game kicked off with Arsenal and after just a few minutes Liverpool gained possession and frustrated Arsenal with passes that were generally safe and tidy. As the half progresed Stewart Downing pushed on with his runs down the left wing and even Jose Enrique managed to get himself a good dribble which ended in a free-kick after he was taken down. Arsenal resisted being over-run and a few glimpses of promise came from Samir Nasri and appreciation echoed throughout the Emirates from the Arsenal fans. Arshavin looked poor throughout as his first touches never seemed that of the Arshavin we all know. Sagna attempted to threat Liverpool but constantly found his efforts cancelled out by Martin Kelly who played his first game since West Ham in February, although it never looked like he left the field since. The bad news kept coming for Arsenal as Laurent Koscielney left the field with a back spasm and the young Miquel came on in his place for his first game in the Premier League. It wasn't all Arsenal had to worry about as defensive midfielder was treading on thin ice after a yellow card for consistent poor tackles.

Half time drew closer and the sides seemed evenly matched, Arsenal were clearly lacking creativity but still managed to look dangerous on their attacks so they weren't completly out of this one just yet.

Second half kicked off and Liverpool's passes seemed a little more risky as they attempted to open up Arsenal's defence but the resistance from Arsenal was more than expected as the young Carl Jenkinson and Miquel refused to back down. Arsenal tried to push on and as Liverpool fans awaited the hour mark for Suarez to be 'unleashed' onto the field. It came and passed, yet no sign of Luis. The 70 minute mark passed and Fringpong's challenge was another poor one and he was sent off with a second yellow and this prompted the news Liverpool fans had wanted, Luis Suarez replaced Andy Carroll whilst Raul Meireles came on for Dirk Kuyt.

We found a new breed of life and the team looked more threatning in the last 20 minutes than they ever did throughout the rest of the game. Seven minutes after the arrival of Luis Suarez a goal came through unusual fasion as Ramsey fumbled into his own net under pressure as Raul Meireles and Luis Suarez pressed on in the box.

Even after the goal we pushed on and looked dangerous and it seemed more likely that Liverpool would hit another rather than a comeback from Arsenal, and that predicted amongst Scouse supporters proved correct as Luis Suarez netted his second goal of the season and Liverpool's second goal of the game. The game finished at 2-0 and Arsenal find themselves even more worse off than they started with not only a loss but possibly without another defender for the game against Manchester United next week aswell as Fringpong who'll join Alex Song and Gervinho on the suspension list.

So, what can we take from the game? Liverpool managed to keep up a consistent performance over the full ninety minutes and Suarez looked like he didn't want the match to end. Our performance was far from magnificent but it was enough to edge Arsenal and pick up the three points. Kelly proved he is much more effective over John Flanagan after a impressive display where he kept his cool in defence aswell as probing in the attacking third. The players will be motivated and ready to go for next week's game vs Bolton and after some promising individual performances from Henderson, Enrique, Adam and Downing our team looks like their gelling well and this win will give them a much needed boost in confidence.

Overall I feel King Kenny has done well with the squad and his decision to leave Suarez on the bench also means he'll be fresh and again, hungry for the next game (Such a tease). We managed to get the team connecting with passes more accurately throughout the game which has somewhat overshadowed the injury of Steven Gerrard, probably much to his relief. We're looking decent and if we can build on today's performance it should hold us in good stead for the future. For now we can take the positives and look forward to next week's game against Bolton.

Upwards and onwards!

Lil Jatt

 

Great performance from you lot I thought despite the offside/scrappy goal. Looked class on the ball at times, Jose Enrique was brilliant as was Downing. Thought Carroll was a bit out of sync though, struggled against Vermaelen but great sub choice by Kenny.

 

Good write up Jatt.

 

Why was it that Suarez didn't start? You definitely needed him, Carroll looks poor.

 

I'm sure it paid off, if you read the article I explain how effective and how much more dangerous the team looked once a fresh Suarez came on.

 

wouldn't be surprised to see Carroll and Suarez swap places for the next game

 

Suarez started the Sunderland game and looked very lively from the first whistle.

I did read the article, yet I didn't see any mention of the two offside shouts for both goals..

 

Suarez looked tired in the second half against Sunderland, due to the Copa America. Hence he was rested today as we need him to be fresh. He came on and made an instant impact, so it all went to plan.

 

Fair enough, I'd forgotten he was in the Copa America. His fitness will be key if you guys are going to get back in the top 4.

 

Considering Uruguay won it and he was player of the tournament - his fitness levels are good. With this rest he should be unstoppable next week

 

Top-notch analysis again Lil_Jatt.

 

Interesting read, good result for you lot (and THAT is how you beat Sunderland btw )

 

I meant in terms of not getting injures. You didn't look too good without him today.

 

Congrats on your derby win!

I was following the game on the BBC live text and Sunderland seem to be doing really well... What happened to them? Did they drop off or did your lot step up?

And we are both joint top of the league!

 

I thought it was a brilliant performance from the lads. It's very rare that away teams come to the Emirates Stadium and have more possession and generally dominate the game. I thought our possession was really good - short, quick passes.

The thing that really impressed me was the confidence and composure. Everyone seemed to want the ball, even in tight spaces. The touch, control and passing was brilliant and I think having some technical players like Enrique, Downing and Adam has really brought some composure to the team.

My only concern is that I felt there was too much space in the centre midfield. Nasri and Frimpong made quite a few long runs and I felt we should have closed them down quicker. But the defence cleaned up and Reina was dependable as usual.

I'm still not convinced by Carroll - it's evident that we're a lot more dangerous when we have Suarez in the team but will Kenny start Suarez over Carroll or persist with the partnership? We bought Carroll to bully defences and cause trouble in the box - today he was overshadowed by Vermalen who was brilliant. Carroll is too static for me - Kenny needs to get Carroll to move more and fit in with our fluid style of play because the days of a traditional CF are long gone. Kenny will need to make a big decision soon IMO.

3 points away and at the Emirates Stadium. Not only that, but we dominated the game. I hope we can continue this until the end of the season!

 

They were on top but not dominating or anything, by full time they should have had 3 red cards though.

Nice being top of the league though isnt it?

 

Quite like the top of the table! Early days though.

And it's weird that we've both played Arsenal and Sunderland in our first two games!

 

He is very fit player who rarely gets injured. We also have some very good players to come in - so i wouldn't base our team on one player like people did with Gerrard and also then with Torres.

 

Given that nobody was sure who Arsenal would play or the tactics that they would adopt therefore Kenny picked exactly the right starting 11 and then introduce Suarez when the Arsenal defence were tireing. The interesting thing was Wenger trying to claim that they did not deserve to lose. Given that they never really attempted to win then they got what they deserved - nothing.

 

I got my prediction on "I know the score" correct. 0-2 and as we speak Villa are now 3-1 so if that stays the same that is another prediction correct.