Arsenal 0-3 Liverpool
Liverpool hauled themselves back into top four contention after comfortably beating Arsenal in tonight’s Premier League clash at the Emirates.
The Reds went into the international break on the back of a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Wolves and the Arsenal vs Liverpool betting odds had confidence in them to make it back-to-back wins on their return.
After a goalless first half dominated by the visitors, two quick-fire goals from Diogo Jota and Mo Salah took the game away from Arsenal, before Jota made it three with his second goal as their hosts caved in.
Liverpool are up to fifth place and are just two points behind Chelsea in fourth, while the Gunners stay ninth.
Highlights of the game
Liverpool bossed the first half, but they struggled to carve out any clear-cut chances, the best being a cutback from Trent Alexander-Arnold into the path of James Milner who made a good connection, but with the goal at his mercy his shot flew wide.
Fabinho had a good attempt from distance but was narrowly off target and Roberto Firmino also drilled a shot inches wide. Milner stood a cross up for Sadio Mane but his header was easily saved by Bernd Leno.
Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney walks off the pitch after sustaining an injury
Arsenal’s only attempt in the first 45 minutes was the result of a clever move involving Kieran Tierney and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who then crossed for Pepe to head into Alisson’s hands.
But the Gunners’ difficult first half ended in disappointment for influential wing-back Tierney, who hurt his knee in a challenge with Milner and he limped off to be replaced by Cedric Soares.
Arsenal looked like they’d had a few words at half-time and they came out for the second half with more intent, Aubameyang linking up well with Cedric who tested Alisson with a sweetly hit drive.
But then Klopp brought on the man of the moment, Jota. The Portuguese star, who scored the winner in Liverpool’s recent win at Wolves and bagged two for his country against Serbia, came on in the 60th minute and Pool were one up on 64.
Alexander-Arnold, much criticised in recent weeks, swung in a beautiful cross which Jota met with a thumping header that Leno got a fist to but couldn’t keep out.
And one became two just five minutes later when Salah scored his 93rd goal in 150 games for Liverpool, picking the ball up on the right and driving into the penalty area before sliding the ball under Leno to double the lead.
The Gunners had gone and Liverpool’s third goal was a demonstration of the Champions ruthlessness but also Arsenal’s sloppiness. Gabriel hit a careless ball out of defence which Alexander-Arnold seized upon. He fed Salah who squared for Jota to fire home.
Liverpool are back in business.
Key statistics
We saw the best and worst of Arsenal two weeks ago when they came back from a three goals deficit to earn a draw away to West Ham. The Gunners’ defence was ripped apart in the first half but their creative players were at their best to score three in the second.
The pattern of Arsenal’s first half tonight was similar as Liverpool dominated with over 65 per cent possession and six shots to one, but both sides had just the one effort on target. This was the first time Arsenal had registered just one shot in the first half at the Emirates since 2015.
But there was no Arsenal improvement after the break this time as Liverpool ran riot, winning the eventual shot count by 14 to two and six to two on target.
What’s next?
The Reds will have a keen eye on the Premier League 2021 results tomorrow. But today, there was a big shock for SBOTOP Premier League fans from Stamford Bridge, where Thomas Tuchel lost his unbeaten start as Chelsea manager. The Blues went down to a 5-2 home defeat at the hands of struggling West Brom. Thiago Silva was sent off and Tuchel’s usually well-organised team capitulated.
And tomorrow the eye-catching fixture is in the West Midlands, where Wolves host European hopefuls West Ham, who could jump into the top four at Chelsea’s expense.
Then both Arsenal and Liverpool are in European action this week; The Gunners have a Europa League date with Slavia Prague to contend with. Their opponents are leading the Czech Fortuna League but Arteta will expect his players to come out on top.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are engaged in a mouth-watering Champions League tie against Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid. Los Blancos are still in with a chance of winning La Liga, in a three-way race with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. Real beat Eibar today with top scorer Karin Bemzema on target again. The France striker will test Liverpool’s depleted defence more than the Gunners did tonight.
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