Arsenal and Liverpool drew 0-0 in what was one of the worst games of the Premier League this season.
It was an ugly one at Emirates Stadium as Gunners and Reds played out their first goalless draw in the Premier League in over 10 years.
Today’s match was also just the seventh this season in which neither team reached double digits in shot attempts (9 for Arsenal and 8 for Liverpool).
What led to Arsenal and Liverpool drawing 0-0?
Arsenal’s dominant first half
Arne Slot’s man-marking in the attacking half leaving a spare man in Dominik Szoboszlai and freeing up space for both Arsenal’s centre-backs very much dictated the game. In fact, it felt like Mikel Arteta just reacted to his surroundings all game long.
The guests’ priority was to close down whichever midfielder dropped in between William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes. Initially, that was mostly Declan Rice, but then it switched to Martin Zubimendi in the second half.
Martin Odegaard and the remaining midfielder would have no time or space to work, as Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister were always nearby. Wingers Jeremie Frimpong and Cody Gakpo would take care of Piero Hincapie and Jurrien Timber, respectively.
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This strategy did make it hard for Arsenal to create anything dangerous. And, in terms of shot attempts, they couldn’t. But they did have a few dangerous moments.
Most of them came via Bukayo Saka. The No.7 was one of the first players to understand what the game was actually asking for. He would often move inside and create space for Saliba to carry the ball forwards, since no Liverpool players were paying much attention to him.
On the ball, Saka was responsible for most of what the Gunners did to harm the Reds in the first half. He started taking defenders on and entering the box. He also took two dangerous shots.
Take-ons, carries and off-ball movement are the best weapons to counter man-marking and Saka was the only one trying to fight it.
Eventually, the idea to let Saliba and Gabriel play freely would let Arsenal gain momentum and territorial dominance. This led to them winning second balls and establishing themselves in the attacking half – even in the final third at times.
The Gunners were also quickly recovering possession and not allowing Liverpool their transitions with long through balls to Frimpong down the right. As a result, Slot changed his side’s mindset to keep possession. It lasted around five minutes, but it led to Connor Bradley nearly scoring from long range after a miscommunication between Saliba and David Raya.
| First half stats | Arsenal | Liverpool |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 60% | 40% |
| Shots (on target) | 6 (2) | 3 (0) |
| Passes | 293 | 197 |
Liverpool flip the switch in the second half
Liverpool turned the game on its head after the break. After tasting brief success while maintaining possession for a five-minute period in the first half, the Reds dominated the ball all second half long. They always had enough quality to do that and Florian Wirtz’s presence as a false nine helped that.
But it was also eye-catching how Mikel Arteta simply accepted Liverpool’s dominance at home. The crowd didn’t look pleased with his decision to employ a mid-to-low block for much of the second half.
Considering their ambitions and their record so far, it was disappointing to see them give up on taking the game to the Reds.
| Second half stats | Arsenal | Liverpool |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 35% | 65% |
| Shots (on target) | 3 (2) | 5 (0) |
| Passes | 164 | 309 |
The Spaniard also had to deal with a dilemma of sorts. The flow of the first half required a more technical left-back than Piero Hincapie, and Myles Lewis-Skelly would have been better suited. But for the second half, when the youngster had to replace the Ecuadorian, he struggled mightily with Frimpong running at him and isolating him one-on-one.
It also affected his game on the ball. He made wrong decisions, misplaced easy passes and showed no confidence going forward.
None of Arteta’s substitutions changed the system or made them much more aggressive than before. But it did change a few roles.
Gabriel Jesus came on for Viktor Gyokeres and moved around more while also offering support to midfielders. Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke attacked the last shoulder more often and tried to run in behind to receive in rhythm and look for crosses. Still, they left a lot to be desired on the final product.
Friendly draw?
It felt like Mikel Arteta was happy to take a draw considering how much Arsenal struggled to create in their “default settings”. He didn’t look too willing to expose his team in order to try and harm the opposition and run the risk of getting caught in a Frimpong transition.
This became even more of a danger considering Lewis-Skelly’s poor performance. So it makes some sense.
Meanwhile, Arne Slot was also more than happy to take a point home. He went into the game with a lot of important absences (Mo Salah, Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak) and a draw away from home against the leaders is not a bad result.
And despite having much more possession, they also couldn’t create any true goalscoring opportunites – or even hit the target for that matter. But it was also the safest way not to concede. For perspective, the Gunners took just three shots in the whole second half – all of them in added time.
So in the end it looked like both teams were satisfied with the 0-0 and not too fond of the idea of exposing themselves in order to change that. Bad luck for the football fans who sat through the whole 90 minutes.