VAR, Isak and a Midfield Problem Iraola Can No Longer Ignore
Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at Anfield will be remembered for a penalty decision that never came, but the story underneath it is more interesting than the scoreline suggests. Our take is that this was a performance Liverpool fans can take genuine encouragement from, even while the frustration over how it ended is entirely justified.
A Spell That Arsenal Simply Had to Survive
Kai Havertz put the visitors ahead after sixteen minutes, turning in Declan Rice’s delivery to give Arsenal an early foothold they barely deserved to extend. From that point on, the game changed shape entirely. Liverpool pushed higher, started playing through central areas with real purpose, and had Arsenal defending in numbers for long stretches of both halves. Florian Wirtz and Alexis Mac Allister grew into the contest and were central to almost everything positive Liverpool produced going forward. The underlying numbers back up what the eye test suggested, with Liverpool edging the expected goals count and landing far more shots on goal across the ninety minutes. Arsenal, by contrast, barely created after taking the lead and were happy to sit in and protect what they had. That is not the profile of a home side that got outplayed. It is the profile of a home side that could not find the finishing touch.
The Penalty Call That Will Follow This Result Around
Alexander Isak was clearly impeded inside the Arsenal box shortly before half time while chasing down a chance to equalise, and the fact VAR did not intervene is the kind of decision that tends to get picked apart for days afterwards. Whatever the independent panel eventually rules, the moment looked, in real time, like a stonewall penalty that was simply never given. It is the sort of call that changes a result on its own, and Liverpool were entitled to feel aggrieved. Andoni Iraola’s response afterwards carried a dry edge to it. As James Pearce reported, the Liverpool head coach suggested he would now have to tell his own players to go down in the box, a pointed remark about how decisions seem to go for others and not for his side.
Iraola: I will have to tell my Liverpool players to go down in the box after Isak penalty controversy
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) November 1, 2026
It was a throwaway line in some ways, but it reflected genuine frustration at a club that feels it has had more than its share of marginal calls go against it this season. The bigger concern is that a point that should have been banked, at minimum, was lost to a decision nobody connected to Liverpool can make sense of.
Trey Nyoni’s Afternoon Should Not Get Lost in the Noise
Buried underneath the penalty row was a genuinely eye catching individual display from Trey Nyoni, who completed 53 of his 55 passes before making way just before the hour mark. That is a 96 percent completion rate against one of the most aggressive pressing sides in the league, and reports suggest it is the best passing performance by a Liverpool midfielder against Arsenal since Fabinho back in November 2021. He also led every player on the pitch, from either side, for both completed passes and passes that broke Arsenal’s defensive lines in his time on the field. For a young midfielder still establishing himself, that is a serious marker to put down against a side of Arsenal’s quality.
In just 59 minutes, he also led both teams for completed passes and line-breaking passes 👏
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 1, 2026
Pulling the strings at Anfield 🎯 pic.twitter.com/d7wOGes39m
It is worth noting, too, that his influence dipped once Dominik Szoboszlai replaced Florian Wirtz and the balance of the midfield shifted. That is not a coincidence, and it points to a wider issue Iraola will need to solve sooner rather than later.
Why the Double Pivot Still Needs Work
Liverpool’s 4-2-3-1 under Iraola leans heavily on the two deepest midfielders to protect the back line and keep the team’s shape secure, and this was another afternoon where that partnership looked unsettled once changes were made. Both Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch arrived under a different manager, built for a 4-3-3 that asked different questions of its midfielders, and neither is a natural fit as the holding presence this system wants. It is an honest observation rather than a criticism of either player, but it does explain why Liverpool’s name keeps coming up alongside Lamine Camara and Alex Scott in transfer talk. A genuine defensive midfielder who can sit, screen and allow the likes of Wirtz freedom further forward feels less like a luxury now and more like the missing piece.
The Bigger Picture Still Holds
None of this should tip over into panic. Iraola is still rebuilding a squad that was largely assembled for a different system under a different manager, and performances like this one show the raw material is there even when the result is not. Liverpool created enough to win this game comfortably and were denied by a mixture of their own finishing and an officiating decision that should not have been missed. There is a tough stretch of fixtures ahead to properly judge where this team is heading, but on the evidence of ninety minutes against the champions, the project is moving in the right direction even if the table does not yet show it.