Liverpool – Arsenal: Gunners Lose Momentum (2-2)

Arsenal’s composed play in possession and high pressing dominated Liverpool in the first half as Jürgen Klopp’s experiment with a new possession structure faced difficulties. The second half saw momentum swing Liverpool’s way against a more passive Arsenal side though, and Liverpool were able to claw back the two goal deficit of the first half to end the game in a draw.

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

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Jürgen Klopp’s side came into this game without a win since their 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United last month, having lost convincingly at the Etihad Stadium and drawn a poor game at Stamford Bridge in the meantime.

They lined up in a 4-3-3 shape for this match, with a back four of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, and Andrew Robertson. Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, and Curtis Jones were the midfield, with Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, and Diogo Jota as the front three.

Arsenal meanwhile have continued to lead the title race with dominant wins over the likes of Fulham, Crystal Palace, and Leeds United recently. With Manchester City on their tails though, there was pressure not to drop points at Anfield.

Mikel Arteta’s team started in their usual 4-2-3-1 shape, with Ben White, Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhães, and Oleksandr Zinchenko in defense. Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka were in central midfield with Martin Ødegaard at number ten. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli played wide, while Gabriel Jesus was up front.

Arsenal’s dominant start

As football tactics continue to evolve, one of the most popular structural ideas in the current season is the use of a 3-2-4-1 shape in possession, formed with a fullback moving into central midfield. Klopp decided to experiment with the same idea on this occasion, although Liverpool struggled with the ball in the first half.

When Liverpool were building from the back, Alexander-Arnold would move into central midfield alongside Fabinho, while Henderson would then push up into higher and wider areas in support of Salah. This left Konaté, Van Dijk, and Robertson as a back three, while Jones in midfield would also push into higher areas where possible.

Arsenal’s pressing dominated against Liverpool’s adjusted shape in the first half. 

Arsenal were able to adapt to this new structure from Liverpool relatively quickly. Xhaka had probably expected to spend most of his time marking Henderson when Liverpool had the ball, but instead he now pushed up onto Alexander-Arnold, while Ødegaard could stick with Fabinho.

This allowed the Arsenal front three to press Liverpool’s back three. Further back, Zinchenko adapted his positioning by actually pushing inside to mark Henderson, leaving Salah to Gabriel who was aggressive in the early stages of the game and kept the Egyptian quiet.

Overall then, Arsenal had shown good adaptive ability to quickly shift into a man-oriented pressing system to combat Liverpool’s new shape. Liverpool had very little joy in this set up against the energetic pressing of Arsenal, and Arteta’s side would dominate most of the first half.

When Arsenal had the ball in this period, they firstly showed very good composure in deeper areas against Liverpool’s pressure, also leveraging the option to go long when needed. They built with their usual 3-2-4-1 structure where Zinchenko comes into central midfield. The likes of Ødegaard and Xhaka were far too easy to reach from Liverpool’s point of view, as the space between the lines of Liverpool’s zonal 4-3-3 shape were not secured well by the midfield.

Isolations in wide areas were also a prominent threat for Arsenal. Martinelli’s pace was a problem for Alexander-Arnold on the left, while Saka’s smart movement and elusiveness on the ball frustrated Robertson.

It was a characteristic outside-to-inside movement from Saka to receive the ball which ended up leading to Arsenal’s first goal less than ten minutes into the game. Arsenal were able to double their lead within half an hour, and they looked extremely comfortable in the game. However, a goal from Salah against the run of play just before half-time set up a second half which had the potential to be a nervous one for Arteta’s side.

Liverpool gain momentum

Momentum is one of those intangible aspects of football which can have a huge effect on games, and there are few places where this is more prone to happen than Anfield. Arsenal ended up falling victim to this in the second half of this game after the Liverpool goal late in the first half gave hope to Klopp’s side.

Arsenal’s were defending deeper in the second half, spending much more of their time in a 4-4-1-1 mid or low block rather than the aggressive man-oriented pressing seen in the first half. This is understandable in not wanting to leave spaces in behind for the likes of Salah, but it also helped Liverpool to pile on pressure of their own.

Salah missed a penalty early in the second half, but Liverpool continued to rack up possession and chances throughout the half. Klopp made changes at the hour mark, bringing on Thiago Alcântara and Darwin Núñez for Jones and Jota.

Arsenal had some decent transition attacks during the second half but were unable to make the most of them. Their possession game had pretty much broken down at this point though, and the composure shown in the first half was not present.

Both managers made substitutes with around ten minutes left. Klopp brought Firmino in for Fabinho, adding another attacker, while Arsenal became even more cautious with Gabriel Jesus and Ødegaard being sacrificed for Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior. Kiwior went into central defense, meaning Gabriel shifted out to the left and Zinchenko to the left of midfield.

Liverpool finally found the equalizer in the final minutes, as Alexander-Arnold nutmegged Zinchenko and crossed into Fabinho, who headed past Aaron Ramsdale. In the end, Arsenal were grateful for a draw, as Liverpool continued to push forward in the final minutes and Ramsdale was forced into two brilliant saves to keep the scores level and allow Arsenal to escape with a point.

Takeaways

Liverpool were at their worst for much of the first half in this game, as Arsenal outclassed them both with and without the ball. They were able to capitalize on the shift in momentum that resulted from Salah’s goal against the run of play though, and put in a good second half performance which saw them create plenty of chances. In the end, the comeback from two goals down was deserved, and they could have even felt unlucky not to win.

On the flipside, Arsenal were at their dominant best in the early stages of this game, looking composed with the ball and intense without it. In the second half, they lost these aspects though, and instead became more passive and looked to play on counter-attacks. Arteta’s in-game changes were also quite defensive, and eventually the pressure of Liverpool became too much for Arsenal to deal with. The title race remains in Arsenal’s hands after this game, and the looming trip to the Etihad Stadium promises to be the pivotal game in the season for both sides.

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