Arsenal vs Liverpool: Fantastic comeback covers lingering weaknesses

Arsenal and Liverpool just delivered another classic, but Arsenal need to identify their weakness from their miserable first half.

What else could you expect from this match-up? When Arsenal and Liverpool collide, there are goals galore.

However, this match highlighted Arsenal’s weakness – they have the goal-scoring potential to score goals at will, but they don’t have any defensive protection when they play big teams. They have conceded three goals or more against Leicester, Manchester City, Manchester United, and now Liverpool twice this season.

Two deficiencies highlighted the team’s poor performance in the first half, and that was security and confidence.

First-half: No defensive security

The most obvious thing I saw in the first half from Arsenal was that Granit Xhaka was playing higher up the pitch than Jack Wilshere and Mesut Özil. This didn’t make any sense because we all know Liverpool press and if Xhaka is in front of the ball when the Gunners give it away then there is no defensive midfielder in front of the back four.

Sometimes Wilshere and Özil were both too deep and Xhaka was forced to go beyond them. One of the two needed to occupy the No. 10 role to allow Xhaka to drop deep.

Laurent Koscielny was poorly positioned on multiple occasions. I would have liked to see Shkodran Mustafi start with Nacho Monreal at left back. However, Ainsley Maitland-Niles did better than I expected, although Maitland-Niles was at fault for Coutinho’s goal.

All the back four had their defensive errors in the first half, but they improved in the second half.

Lack of confidence

Arsenal seemed like they were scared when they won the ball back in their defensive third. You have to give credit to Liverpool by pressing so well, but they needed to look for Alexandre Lacazette making runs through the channels instead of knocking it about in their own third.

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They did not have great cohesion when doing something they are always great at – passing. The first half reminded me of the game against City this season. There was no out-ball to break the high press. They were trapped in their own half for the majority of the first half.

Second half

There didn’t seem to be any tactical changes from Arsene Wenger at halftime, which was a bit surprising. After Mo Salah’s goal, Arsenal were down 2-0. Spirits were down as there were boos from some supporters.

However, they took their chance in the second half through Alexis Sánchez. After this goal, they were full of confidence. A rocket from Xhaka gave them more confidence. Özil and Lacazette had a bit of great link-up play to lead to an amazing comeback that put them up 3-2 in the 58th minute.

Shut up shop?

You are 3-2 up with 30 minutes left, your defense has given up loads of chances this game, why not tighten up a bit? I can put some of the blame on the players, but Wenger needs to instruct them to tighten up. Again, Koscielny was positioned poorly, which led to Firmino having a clear chance to convert making it 3-3.

Arsenal’s comeback was fantastic, but it was still frustrating to give up a goal. Lee Dixon summed up what Arsenal needed to do after taking the lead saying, “make them beat you with a fantastic goal.”

Xhaka improved in the second half and it wasn’t all due to his rocket, he started to sit back more and he was winning challenges.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Liverpool

This game could have easily ended like the Man United game if the Gunners didn’t convert their chances. The game exhibited Arsenal’s key weakness and enhanced the need for reinforcements in defensive midfield in January.

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