Liverpool – Arsenal: Szoboszlai Stunner Breaks The Stalemate (1-0)

Arsenal played fairly well in the first half here, with a solid defensive scheme helping them to limit Liverpool’s chances. As the second half progressed, Liverpool gained control against a more passive Arsenal defense, but it was a spectacular free-kick from Dominik Szoboszlai that eventually decided this game late on.

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

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Last season’s champions Liverpool started the season with hard-fought wins over Bournemouth and Newcastle showing their goalscoring prowess in both. Arsenal had also won both of their games prior to this one, with an unconvincing opening day victory at Old Trafford, followed by a 5-0 demolition of Leeds United at home.

Arne Slot’s side started in a 4-2-3-1 shape here, with Dominik Szoboszlai covering the right back position alongside Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, and Milos Kerkez in the backline. Ryan Gravenberch was at the base of midfield with Alexis Mac Allister, while Florian Wirtz was ahead of them. The front three comprised Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike, and Cody Gakpo.

Arsenal also started in a 4-2-3-1 shape, with a back four of Jurriën Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, and Riccardo Calafiori, although Saliba’s game would be short-lived, being replaced by Cristhian Mosquera due to injury after just four minutes. Martín Zubimendi and Declan Rice were the deepest midfielders, with Mikel Merino operating slightly ahead. Noni Madueke started on the right in the absence of Bukayo Saka, joined in the frontline by Viktor Gyökeres and Gabriel Martinelli.

Arsenal’s solid pressing

With Liverpool’s strong attack, the first priority for an away team at Anfield is to get the defensive scheme in order. Arsenal managed to achieve this generally, with an organized and tenacious pressing scheme on display from the early stages.

Arsenal pressed in a 4-4-2 shape, with Gyökeres generally staying high as the left striker against Konaté, meaning that Liverpool’s buildup was often funneled towards Van Dijk. When he received the ball, Merino would then jump forward to pressure him, and Zubimendi would get tight to Mac Allister in the left halfspace, while Madueke marked Kerkez.

Arsenal pressing in a 4-4-2 shape.

Gravenberch was Liverpool’s deepest midfielder, starting around the number six area. In order to escape the marking and cover shadows of Arsenal’s front two, he would increasingly drop between the Liverpool center-backs to provide stability in their ball circulation and get on the ball to try and progress forward.

There were also occasional variations for Liverpool where Szoboszlai would invert from his right back position into the number six area alongside Gravenberch, creating an overload for Liverpool to try and escape the Arsenal pressure.

Overall though, Arsenal’s defensive scheme was fairly tight, and they were content when dropping off into a mid-block too. Zubimendi gave Mac Allister close attention, while Rice’s athletic presence made it hard for Wirtz to find space in which to influence the game. Similarly, Mosquera was physical and aggressive in his duels with Ekitike who Liverpool often sought with his back to goal.

Searching for stability

Just as Gravenberch could be seen dropping between the Liverpool center-backs to provide stability, Arsenal’s central midfielders could also sometimes be seen doing similar things in Arsenal’s possession phases.

Initially, it seemed that Arsenal’s buildup would involve Calafiori inverting alongside Zubimendi while Timber formed the back three alongside the center-backs, and Rice was allowed to push further forward in the left halfspace.

However, increasingly it was Rice who stayed deeper in the rest defense, and Calafiori who pushed further forward. Merino would then be advanced in the right halfspace, while Madueke and Martinelli held the width.

Liverpool pressed in a slightly asymmetrical fashion, with Salah often staying higher on the right, and Gakpo deeper on the left. Ekitike tended to be shifted to the left, closer to Mosquera, while Salah pushed up towards Gabriel.

Liverpool’s asymmetric pressing shape.

Wirtz would then try to cover the central space, with situational assistance from Mac Allister. Gravenberch’s athleticism was then relied on to cover the space left behind Salah, as well as monitor Calafiori pushing up in the left halfspace.

Arsenal also found it slightly tough to break through the Liverpool press, although they did slightly better than their opponents in creating breakthroughs in the first half. Madueke in particular had a couple of good moments against Kerkez on the left where his off-the-ball running troubled the Liverpool left-back.

Szoboszlai’s stunner

The second half took on a different shape to the first half, as Liverpool took a much larger share of possession and territory. Arsenal meanwhile were more cautious, with fewer attempts at high pressing, and more passive defending in their own half.

With more control, Liverpool were able to start getting their attacking players into the game. Wirtz began to find better pockets of space behind the Arsenal midfield, while Salah was able to get into some isolation situations against Calafiori, who gave a good account of himself when called upon.

Slot was the first manager to make a change, replacing Mac Allister with Curtis Jones on the hour mark. Ten minutes later, Arteta also tried to change the rhythm, with his side having lost the energy of the first half. Martin Ødegaard and Eberechi Eze replaced Merino and Martinelli in order to try and add some creativity and ball security to Arsenal’s play.

In the end, it was a stunning free-kick from Szoboszlai which eventually broke the stalemate in the final ten minutes. Wataru Endō was brought on for Wirtz after this, while Arteta introduced Max Dowman for Madueke as Arsenal looked to chase the game in the final minutes. In the end though, Liverpool were able to hold onto their lead, and take the three points in this early title clash.

Takeaways

Arsenal were solid in the first half and were perhaps even the slightly better team overall. Their defensive scheme worked well, and they were able to carve out the occasional opening. As the second half went on though, they became more conservative and seemed to lack a spark in the game. Perhaps they were not unhappy with the idea of taking a point from this game, but in the end, this was taken out of their hands, and they had little time to respond.

Liverpool grew into things in the second half after a solid but unspectacular first half. In the second half though, they gained control and showed in flashes how dangerous their attackers are, and Szoboszlai will rightly take the headlines after his brilliant strike.