Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal: 4 talking points from Carabao Cup draw

4. Arteta’s Management Spot On

Not something that can always be said, but tonight the Spaniard got it right, and then some.

Having to replace Cedric with Calum Chambers early on and then to shuffle the deck when Xhaka was sent off, Arteta deployed his side to be tough to break down and they were exactly that. Chambers, to his credit, was superb.

The system employed to try and grind out a result and make the most positionally to pose a threat on the counter-attack was a 5-3-1 shape, with Martinelli and Saka tucking into midfield alongside Sambi. It’s something new and unheard of for all three of them, but it worked.

This team has weirdly been very effective as a low block side under Arteta.

Liverpool barely had a meaningful sniff throughout the entire game until late on in injury time. Rob Holding slotted in between White and Gabriel having made way for Eddie Nketiah thanks to Xhaka’s sending off, and Arsenal looked as defensively assured as ever.

That is down to what Arsenal does on the training ground with Arteta and after tonight’s performance, the Gunners boss deserves his flowers. Often blasted for getting it wrong, he deserves credit when he gets it right and tonight he did just that.

It was new. It was different. It was unorthodox. But he found a way to set the team up and they carried those duties out magnificently.