Liverpool fans brought the noise to Anfield on Saturday, just as Jurgen Klopp had requested. While not quite playing the game in Bedlam or atop the deck of a nighttime bus to Kilburn, it could barely have been more raucous. However, with top spot in the Premier League at stake, noise alone won’t secure the Christmas number one.
And so, Liverpool had to settle for a draw with Arsenal. Arsenal deserved the draw, just about. Mikel Arteta’s team was the better side in the first half, and Liverpool pressed them for 35 minutes after the break but could not get the second goal their dominance demanded, and Arsenal held on for a well-earned point.
Six of the last ten sides topping the Premier League at Christmas in the past decade have gone on to win the title, and Arsenal played like champions in the first half—calm, composed, and classy. They went ahead through Gabriel early and looked set to sweep Liverpool aside.
But then Liverpool hit back. It’s easy to mock a call to arms like Klopp’s, but after they equalized in the first half through Mo Salah, Liverpool dominated the second half almost as if it were through a triumph of the collective will of their players and the fans who roared them on.
This was as far removed from the stifling stalemate of Liverpool’s goalless draw with Manchester United last week as it was possible to be. That’s because Arsenal is a far, far better team than United, and they came to win, not just to survive. They will be happier with a point than Liverpool.
There were fine performances all over the field, but as so often, it would be hard to top Declan Rice’s at the heart of this Arsenal team. Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk were superb for Liverpool too, and William Saliba was outstanding in Arsenal’s back four.
Perhaps what this match did most of all was strengthen impressions. Above all, it felt as if Arsenal is equipped to win the title this season, but it also reminded everyone that Liverpool are far more outsiders. They went toe to toe with Arsenal and came away with a point.
Ultimately, it was a good result for Manchester City, who are on their way back from Saudi Arabia after winning the Club World Cup in Jeddah over the weekend. When they return, with Arsenal and Liverpool first and second respectively, the title race will be rejoiced in earnest.
Arsenal launched their first dangerous attack within a minute of the kick-off. Skipper Martin Odegaard played the ball wide to Bukayo Saka, whose cross was palmed out by Alisson but only as far as Gabriel Jesus. His shot was goal-bound until it was deflected over for a corner.
It was the briefest of reprieves for Liverpool. Two minutes later, Kai Havertz won a free-kick on the left, Odegaard curled it into the box, and Gabriel met it, relatively untroubled by Liverpool defenders and yards out, to guide it past Alisson.
At the Anfield Road End of the ground, the Arsenal fans packed into the corner made more than enough noise for everybody.
Liverpool did not wilt. Salah volleyed a shot into the side-netting at the back post where he might have done better, and Arsenal escaped when Odegaard got away with what looked like a handball – any more contact, and he would have been dribbling it like Michael Jordan – as he slipped in his own box.
It all pointed to an equalizer, and just before the half-hour, the equalizer came. Trent Alexander-Arnold arrowed a brilliant pass out to the right over the head of the back-pedalling Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Zinchenko’s position seemed awry, but what happened next was worse. Salah took the Ukraine defender on and jinked past his attempted tackle a little too easily. Salah took a touch and a couple of steps, and then unleashed a ferocious shot that flew past David Raya and bulged the net.
The game was properly alive now. Five minutes before half-time, Saka barged Kostas Tsimikas off the ball in front of the dugouts, and as Tsimikas fell, he took Klopp out and bowled his manager over too. Tsimikas appeared to have broken his collarbone and was replaced by Joe Gomez.
Arsenal should have re-established their lead five minutes before the interval. Saka sprung the offside trap and darted through behind Van Dijk. He took the ball around Alisson but was forced wide, and the ball ran on to Gabriel Martinelli.
Martinelli side-stepped a defender but as Liverpool players stood stationary at the goal line, the Arsenal forward could only drag his shot wide. At the touchline, Arteta stared at the pitch in disbelief.
Zinchenko was having a difficult evening. Every time he touched the ball, he seemed to play himself into trouble, and at the start of the second half, as Liverpool’s energy disconcerted Arteta’s team, Zinchenko was caught in possession and a minute later Gomez curled a subtle shot just wide of Raya’s left post.
