Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal threw up plenty of talking points, some of which were positive and others negative depending on your perspective.
Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah‘s goals meant Liverpool drew away at their prospective title rivals, but despite avoiding defeat at the Emirates, there has been a mixed reaction to the result.
While there were certainly positives to take, Ibrahima Konate‘s performance among them, Liverpool also played below par and missed an opportunity to go seven points clear of the Gunners.
Here, Sam Millne (@sam_millne) and Patrick Allen (@P_Allen21) discuss the good, the bad and the points taken from Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
The good…
PADDY: Konate, wow. He was absolutely immense.
Say it quietly but I actually think he’s having a better season than Virgil, but they complement each other so well. Van Dijk is imperious in the air, Konate is near enough unbeatable on the ground.
It’s that phase of play where Martinelli looks like he’s getting in and Konate just shrugs him off like nothing.
Another positive is that Kostas Tsimikas played well when coming on, maybe laying a claim down to start a little bit more often in the coming weeks as the games come thick and fast.
SAM: Like Paddy said, Konate was brilliant again, as he has been for much of the season.
Of course, he relies on his pace a lot of the time, but Liverpool play such a way that makes use of that. Martinelli stood no chance on the break against Ibou.
As a whole, I think we can be pleased again with the team’s resilience and defensive solidity. It might sound strange to say after conceding twice, Kelleher was actually troubled very little.
The bad…
SAM: In a similar way to the Chelsea match, Slot arguably got his tactics wrong from the start as we pressed with a front four that was bypassed.
This left Arsenal free to run at our full-backs one-on-one, with our wingers often left high up the pitch.
The fact we got better thanks to tweaks is a compliment to Slot but at some point, the Reds will be punished if they continue to expose themselves in the middle.
PADDY: Almost all of the first half was disappointing, to be honest.
It looked a lot like last season where, for some reason, we just shrunk and couldn’t get anything going at all.
Andy Robertson, Luis Diaz and Curtis Jones all didn’t have their best games, neither did Trent Alexander-Arnold but his pass for the second equaliser will pave over the cracks of yesterday.
There was a lack of intensity up until Gabriel went off, that’s when it looked like they all thought ‘well, we can have a go now’, which I thought was a shame.
For you, was it 1 point gained or 2 points dropped?
PADDY: It’s absolutely a point gained, no doubt about it.
I’d have snatched your hand off for a point before the game and then seeing how it actually went; not playing well for large parts, going behind twice and having to deal with let’s say gamesmanship from Arsenal, a point seems even better.
It’s always the way with your title rivals, avoid defeat away and win the home game, so a point will absolutely do for me.
SAM: While I was relieved to not lose, I think it’s fair to say I’m slightly more disappointed than Paddy.
In the past, a point away at your title rivals having won seven of your previous eight matches would be deemed a success – not in the era of Man City, though.
If Liverpool go and beat Brighton next weekend, it will be easier to look back on this as a point gained in one of Liverpool’s toughest matches of the season.
However, for now, I can’t help but feel that Arsenal were there for the taking if Liverpool had performed as we know they can.
