The Gunners remain title favourites but there is still another level they need to reach
The clamouring of the Emirates, the tenacity of Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka creeping dangerously around the right wing, all the things that are easy to love in Arsenal. But also the one lingering element betraying a side that is not quite there: an inability to be ruthless and finish off top teams when it matters.
Mikel Arteta’s project over the past six years has been introducing technicality, world-class skill, but also steel into an Arsenal side that have often seemed like waifs hanging out among adults at the top level. His big task this season is to show that his side are the finished article, the Premier League heavyweights, the team that can shove aside competition and claim the title. Against Liverpool, they gave off confidence that they wouldn’t screw this up, but as the game went on it became obvious that they were there, but at the same time, not quite there.
Arsenal dominated the first half and threatened, Leandro Trossard on the left, Saka on the right, Martin Odegaard in those right half spaces that he loves to get into. Of course, this was a Liverpool side that have put up a limp defence of their title this campaign, a team that lost six games in seven last autumn, now seeing positives in anything that isn’t a defeat, and missing Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak, and Hugo Ekitike.
It was clear even before the game that it would be difficult for Arne Slot’s side to muster anything close to a threat in goal. They have struggled in the absence of the aforementioned trio, with Jeremie Frimpong and the out-of-form Cody Gakpo now the only real attacking options up front. Florian Wirtz has started to adapt to the Premier League but is still far from becoming a major threat. If Arteta somehow wasn’t aware of this it would have become only too evident immediately after kick off.
Arsenal caged Liverpool in and pressed, perhaps unlucky not to go into the break ahead. But in the second half, when they could have been expected to click into another gear and claim a decisive victory, which would have seen them open up an eight-point lead at the top of the table, instead they inexplicably dropped off and suddenly it was Liverpool keeping possession, forcing Arsenal backwards.
Slot’s side currently have very little attacking threat but there was always the danger of Dominik Szoboszlai getting one of his strikes on target. The Hungarian had two free kicks from either of which he could have re-created his sublime winner in the reverse of this fixture at Anfield back in August. Arsenal lost that game for being too measured, too careful to avoid doing something wrong and then ultimately failing to play like champions. It is the kind of football doomed to end in second place.
It needs to be said that Arsenal are, right now, a very good side. And a draw was far from a poor result, especially in the context of draws by Manchester City and Aston Villa this week. But it is difficult to shake off the feeling they are not yet as ruthless as they could be.
There were several good moments from which Arsenal could have broken the deadlock: the run towards the byline by Saka and then a cutback that Martin Zubimendi missed, the cracking cross from Rice that zoomed across the face of Liverpool’s goal unattacked, the pass that Zubimendi intercepted when he could have dummied to leave Saka facing Alisson, Gabriel Jesus’ second half header.
But ultimately it ended in a stalemate. This could have been a big moment for the Gunners, the day they made it clear that weak rivals who faced them would get punished. But instead by the end it was just another winter footnote. It was only the day they maintained their steady, hopeful journey toward the title rather than make an explosive statement.
At one point in the second half Gabriel Martinelli went to push Conor Bradley, who had gone down injured, off the pitch seemingly in a show of urgency to win the game, except his side weren’t showing that same urgency during the actual football. In an encapsulation of Arsenal, the game ended with one final attempt to score with a corner kick. They remain title favourites but there is still another level Arteta needs to take his team.
