Drawing 1-1 at Liverpool Stadium in round 18 on December 23, Arsenal held the top of the Premier League table with one point more than their opponent.
A rare time in the history of the Premier League, Liverpool and Arsenal faced off when the two teams held the top positions. The one-point gap made the match exciting and tense from start to finish. Arsenal opened the scoring early, but Liverpool equalized in the first half thanks to a shining moment from Mohamed Salah. The two teams continued to exchange tit-for-tat in the second half, but did not score any more goals and accepted to divide the points.
The two teams held the ball equally and finished 13 times, but Liverpool will probably be more regretful with the draw. The home team missed the best opportunity of the second half, when Trent Alexander-Arnold hit the crossbar after a pass from Salah, in a “5 on 1” counterattack situation.
Alexander-Arnold’s miss in the 72nd minute made the second half exciting but scoreless. On the contrary, the first half saw a goal come early. In the 4th minute, captain Martin Odegaard gave the ball accurately for midfielder Gabriel Magalhaes to head into Liverpool’s net. After consulting VAR, the referee recognized the goal because the Brazilian player was not offside.
Liverpool, with home advantage, attacked aggressively to find an equalizer. The home team dug deep into Alexandr Zinchenko’s wing on the opponent’s side. The Ukrainian defender is not good at defending and has repeatedly shown weakness in marking Salah. The clearest proof is Liverpool’s goal in the 29th minute. Catching Alexander-Arnold’s long pass, Salah easily passed Zinchenko, before shooting hard into the near corner. The ball went high and dangerous, leaving goalkeeper David Raya unable to block it.
Despite drawing in the first half, Liverpool did not have complete joy. They were denied a penalty by referee Chris Kavanagh after Odegaard’s handball in the penalty area. In the 35th minute, Konstantinos Tsimikas had to leave the field due to a shoulder injury, making the left-back position a concern for coach Jurgen Klopp in the upcoming matches.
While Arsenal’s attack did not hit the goal once in the second half, the defense did not play poorly with the excellence of defensive midfielder Declan Rice and midfielder William Saliba. Besides, the away team also needed luck to not concede another goal, as the wooden frame continuously denied the efforts of Harvey Elliott and Alexander-Arnold for two consecutive minutes.
Fans expected a goal at the end of the match, but what both teams got were just yellow cards. Arsenal could not win at Liverpool for the 11th consecutive year, but still holds the top of the Premier League table with 40 points. Liverpool and Aston Villa are right behind with 39 points. Next match, Arsenal hosts West Ham and Liverpool away to Burnley.