EPL 2016/17: Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal, 5 Talking Points
Liverpool beat Arsenal 3-1 in the Premier League on Saturday night to renew their quest for a Champions League spot next season in what was a performance that saw them leapfrog the Gunners into third place – for the time being. Goals from Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum gave Jurgen Klopp’s side three much-needed points at Anfield.
In doing so, Liverpool have accomplished the double over Arsene Wenger’s squad, having beaten them 4-3 at the Emirates on the opening day of the season. Danny Welbeck was Arsenal’s only goalscorer in a game where they were outplayed by a well-drilled Liverpool team.
Here are the major talking points from the game.
1) Arsenal’s 4-5-1 formation proved effective – for just nine minutes
It was interesting to see how Wenger planned to deploy the Gunners at Anfield without Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in the lineup. With Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck starting, they lined up in a 4-5-1 formation, presumably to starve Liverpool of space in midfield and hit them on the counter-attack.
However, that plan was torn to shreds within the first 10 minutes of the game. Liverpool’s goal came from a goal kick sent deep into Arsenal’s half. Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin were guilty of leaving too much space between the lines, forcing Laurent Koscielny to step up towards the centre circle to win the header.
When he lost out on the aerial duel, it effectively became a 4-vs-3 situation with the Reds having the upper hand. Roberto Firmino will also count himself lucky to receive the ball from a low cross that missed everybody in the box but the fact that he had time to control the ball and take a shot without any pressure from the defence speaks volumes of how much trouble Arsenal created for themselves.