Why Arsenal’s Backhanded Compliment For Liverpool Still Stings
Arsenal ended a wait stretching back fourteen years for a league win at Anfield, and Mikel Arteta spent much of his post match reaction talking about Liverpool rather than his own side. That should tell Andoni Iraola everything he needs to know about how Sunday actually went.
A Result That Flattered The Visitors More Than It Hurt The Hosts
Kai Havertz’s goal was enough to send Arsenal back to the top of the Premier League table, and it arrived just days after their shock Carabao Cup exit to Fleetwood Town. Arteta made no secret of how much the response meant to him personally, pointing to the mood inside his own camp after that cup defeat rather than dwelling on Liverpool’s performance in detail.
Still, he found time to acknowledge what Iraola’s side had produced. He talked about respecting the way Liverpool were set up and the level they are already playing at under their new head coach, framing them as a top side even in defeat. Reading between the lines, that is not really a compliment Liverpool should want. It is the sort of thing winning managers say about teams they expect to be competing with eventually, not teams that are currently troubling them.
Shot Stats Tell The Real Story
The numbers back up the sense that Arsenal rode their luck less than the result suggests. Arsenal failed to register a single shot on target at Anfield in a Premier League away fixture, the first time that has happened since detailed shot data started being recorded in 2003, yet they still left with all three points. Arteta credited his players’ discipline and work rate for making that stand up, insisting every player committed to blocking lanes and denying Liverpool the sort of sustained spells that usually punish a passive defence.
That is a damning statistic for Liverpool to sit with. A team that dominates territory and possession without finding a way through is not a team short of talent, it is a team short of a finishing idea in the final third, and that is squarely Iraola’s problem to solve.
The Penalty Question Arteta Would Not Touch
Liverpool had their own grievance from the afternoon. Iraola felt Alexander Isak had been pulled down inside the Arsenal box, but referee and VAR let the game continue. Asked about it afterwards, Arteta kept his answer short, saying only that he had not seen the incident and would need to review it before commenting properly. It was a convenient non answer from a manager who had just won the contest he needed most.
Transition Talk Only Goes So Far
Arsenal’s win moves them further clear at the top, while Liverpool are left to work out how a performance containing long periods of control produced almost nothing in front of goal. Praise from an opposing manager after a fourteen year wait for a win at Anfield is a nice line for the written press, but it changes nothing about the table, and it does not disguise the fact that Iraola’s side are still searching for the cutting edge that used to define this fixture.