Five Things We Learnt from Arsenal/Liverpool

The two sides drew 0-0 at the Emirates Stadium last night

Arsenal and Liverpool played out an entertaining 0-0 draw last night with both goalkeepers coming out on top, in particular Petr Cech, who made two phenomenal saves to deny Christian Benteke and Philippe Coutinho respectively.

The game was played under lights at the Emirates Stadium, but sadly for fans of both sides, no goals were scored as both Cech and Simon Mignolet could not be beaten.

However, a point will probably satisfy the travelling fans, who witnessed their side lose 4-1 in North London last year, and it also keeps their unbeaten start to the season, following two wins.

As for Arsenal, it’s yet another miserable start for them, picking up just four points.

But what things stood out the most about last night’s match? Well SillySeason are now going to highlight five things that we learnt from watching the goalless draw.

5) Calum Chambers is not ready

Just before kick-off it was revealed that both Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker would be missing the game through illness and injuries, leaving Arsenal with Calum Chambers and Gabriel Paulista playing at centre-back.

Although Gabriel looked comfortable and convincing, the same cannot be said for young Chambers who consistently gave the ball away and failed to quieten Christian Benteke.

Somehow in the first-half Arsenal didn’t concede and a lot of Liverpool‘s pressure came when Chambers panicked and gave the ball away.

Arsene Wenger has big hopes for Chambers and believes he will be a crucial part of Arsenal’s long-term future, but after last night’s showing, it’s clear he has a long way to go.

4) Petr Cech is still class

A lot of questions were raised regarding Petr Cech after his shocking debut against West Ham United, making two mistakes that lead to goals in the 2-0 defeat.

However, he quashed all those questions thanks to a stunning first-half display last night.

Overall he made several saves, but there were two in particular that stood out, one denying Benteke from about five yards, and the other saw him tip Coutinho‘s curling shot onto the post.

Cech somehow managed to keep Liverpool at bay in the opening 45-minutes and it was thanks to him that The Gunners even came away with a point.

Stunning display.

3) Liverpool can be genuine title contenders

Why can’t they be?!

A lot was said about Brendan Rodgers and about Liverpool ahead of the season, but after three games they have picked up seven points and are yet to concede a goal.

Last season they conceded 10-goals in the two games away at Stoke City and Arsenal, but this season they came away with a 1-0 win and a 0-0 draw.

Improvement.

If Arsenal are also considered title-contenders, then Liverpool need to be as well because simply they were better on the night at the Emirates Stadium and could have easily left with all three points.

2) Arsenal need Koscielny and Mertesacker fit

It was briefly mentioned earlier regarding Calum Chambers not being ready, but it’s worth it’s own point.

Arsenal simply need these two in the first-team on a regular basis, but if they can’t have one, they simply have to have the other in order to lead at the back.

The Gunners were lost at the back without these figures there. Chambers had no clue what was going on and couldn’t deal with anything, whilst Gabriel looked a bit more convincing but not yet the full package.

Arsenal are a much better team with Mertesacker and Koscielny and they need to keep them fit for the majority of the season.

1) Officials still don’t get it

Although we’ve been praising Liverpool for their first-half performance, they should have been 1-0 down early on when Aaron Ramsey slotted past Simon Mignolet.

However, once again, the officials proved that they don’t understand the offside rule.

Similar to last Monday when The Reds scored an offside goal against AFC Bournemouth, they got let off conceding one this Monday when Ramsey was clearly onside when the ball was played.

What makes things worse for the officials is that the penalty box line was exactly in line with the Liverpool back-four, which should have made the lino’s job even easier.

Annoyingly for Arsenal however, he still called the Welshman offside.

 

So there were five things that stood out for us after watching the Arsenal/Liverpool game last night.

What stood out for you?

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt