Arsenal 0 – 0 Liverpool – Match Report

We moved six points clear at the top of the table after being held to a goalless draw at home to Liverpool.

On a night when we failed to create many chances of note, we had to settle for a share of the spoils against the reigning champions.

The first-half was light on goalmouth action too, the closest either side came was when Conor Bradley hit the bar following David Raya’s hurried clearance.

Our first effort on target of the second-half didn’t come until injury-time, but the point does at least extend our lead at the top of the table, and make it eight games unbeaten.

Early pressure

On a wet, windy and wintry night in north London, ‘Home Is Where The Heat Is’ was the message in the pre-match video as the supporters turned Emirates Stadium red and white for kick off.

The players fed off that energy early on, pushing the visitors back and creating the best chances of the opening 20 minutes.

Jurrien Timber headed a deep Declan Rice cross back across goal, but nobody could get on the end of it.

Bukayo Saka then did superbly to beat Milos Kerkez, get to the byline and fire a low cross that was just behind Martin Zubimendi. Saka then tried his luck from outside the area but Alisson held it well in the slippery conditions.

Bradley hits the bar

As the stormy conditions began to subside, Liverpool had weathered our early storm on the pitch, and enjoyed a spell of possession themselves.

William Saliba almost caught out Raya with a backpass as our keeper came racing out to meet the ball. His rushed clearance fell to Bradley, who lifted his shot over Raya and against the bar. Jurrien Timber then blocked Cody Gakpo’s follow-up.

At the end of the half, Rice had a speculative shot saved low down before Saka was crowded outside the box before he could fire away his shot, but generally it was a low-key first 45 minutes after what was a promising start.

Liverpool peg us back

The second half continued in a similar fashion, with neither side having a shot until the hour mark, when Dominik Szoboszlai blazed a free-kick over the bar. Liverpool were on top by now though, and Jeremie Frimpong looked dangerous with his pace on the right flank.

The visitors were enjoying nearly 75% of the possession in the second period. Mikel Arteta responded by sending on Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Ebere Eze and Noni Madueke, and the latter’s first touch was to send a dangerous low cross in front of goal, but there was nobody to get on the end of it.

Szoboszlai hit another free-kick just off target as we entered the final 10 minutes, and in injury time Jesus had a header saved and Martinelli tried his luck from a narrow angle, but that was as good as it got on a largely frustrating evening.

FACTS AND STATS

This was the first 0-0 draw between Liverpool and us in the Premier League since August 2015. Coming into tonight’s game, there had been 79 goals scored across the last 20 league meetings, at an average of 3.95 per match.

Mikel Arteta remains winless against Arne Slot (D3 L1), with the Dutchman being the only opposing manager to avoid defeat in his first four games against the Spaniard (all between Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League).

Liverpool failed to land a shot on target in a Premier League match for the first time since March 2010 versus Wigan Athletic, with tonight being their 600th game in the competition since then.

We failed to score in a Premier League game for the first time since the reverse fixture with Liverpool in August (0-1 at Anfield) – indeed, the only two occasions we’ve failed to find the net across their last 32 league matches have both been against Arne Slot’s side. 

Liverpool have only won 27% of their matches across all competitions this season without Hugo Ekitike in their starting XI (3/11 – D2 L6), compared to a 63% win rate when the Frenchman has been named among their starters (12/19 – D3 L4).

Four different Dutch players started for Liverpool against Arsenal (Van Dijk, Frimpong, Gravenberch & Gakpo); the most outfielders from the Netherlands named in a Premier League starting XI since Middlesbrough on December 18, 2004 v Aston Villa (Reiziger, Boateng, Zenden & Hasselbaink).

What’s next

We embark on an unprecedented run of four consecutive away games in four different competitions within the space of 10 days. 

First up it’s Portsmouth at Fratton Park in the FA Cup third round on Sunday, followed by the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final away to Chelsea next Wednesday. We return to Premier League action next Saturday at Nottingham Forest before resuming our Champions League campaign away to Inter Milan.

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