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Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
On balance, Liverpool took a deserved point home from their away day at Arsenal but have some regrets about a poor start to the match.
For unexpected title hopefuls Liverpool, the goal and ideal result on Sunday when they travelled to London to take on Arsenal was always a win and three points and by that measure a 2-2 draw might be a mild disappointment.
Against one of the Premier League’s pre-season favourites, though, on the road and in a game that saw the Reds on the back foot for much of the first half, there are positives to take from their second half push to take a result home with them.
“It’s a very tough place to come, obviously teams have seen that over the years,” Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said following Sunday’s draw. “They have a solid team and make it difficult, but obviously it was difficult for them as well.
“I think to come back twice is a good thing. We take the point and move on, that’s the feeling. You have to be ready to fight, that was the message before the game that we will have difficult moments, and we move now to the Carabao Cup.”
Those difficult moments came almost entirely in the first half, with Arsenal on top for most of it and Liverpool’s only significant chance the one they took to level it 1-1 with a 17th minute header from Van Dijk after Arsenal scored in the 8th.
Between Arsenal’s second goal to go ahead in the 42nd minute and the 85th minute after the Reds had again clawed level, though, the host Gunners created just one chance worth a paltry 0.06 xG. Or: they went into a defensive shell.
The result was a game where despite Arsenal feeling the better side after their dominant first half, Liverpool actually held 56% possession, attempted 20% more passes than Arsenal while completing them at a higher rate, and generated more xG.
Taking just a single point might not have been the ideal result, then, but there was plenty positive to take away from the game—albeit also some regrets given a better first half showing from the Reds likely would have led to a victory.
“That was a problem first half,” Van Dijk added. “We couldn’t keep the ball longer than five passes. Obviously it was a good press from them but I think if we kept the ball longer we could have created a bit more. The second half was better.”
