Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal: Five talking points
Liverpool continued their winning start to the Premier League season with a 3-1 defeat of Arsenal at Anfield on Monday night.
Having fallen behind to Alexandre Lacazette’s 25th-minute opener, the Reds responded emphatically and were ahead themselves by half-time through Sadio Mane and Andy Robertson.
The icing on the cake came two minutes from the end as new signing Diogo Jota, on for his home debut, clipped a third into the Kop-end net.
Here are five talking points from the clash with the Gunners…
Jota opens his account
The shot had only just nestled into the bottom corner and Jota was already surrounded by delighted teammates.
His well-taken volley from the edge of the Arsenal area – angled inside the left post from 18 yards out – finally put the match beyond the visitors, yes.
But it also represented a special moment for a player who has quickly settled into the champions’ squad since his move from Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month. And the meaning was not lost on his peers.
“When you arrive at a team that are world champions, you always try to adapt as quickly as possible,” said the No.20. “The way they received me is exceptional. I just thank them for the way they have received me. I think we can build up from here and do great things in the future.”
Jota became the 13th player to score on his Premier League debut for the Reds.
400 league goals under Klopp
Jota’s late effort brought up a milestone for the manager, too.
It was the 400th league goal scored by the Reds during Klopp’s tenure, a tally achieved in fewer matches than any other Liverpool boss in history.
This was the German’s 185th league fixture in charge of the club, meaning the team have averaged 2.16 goals per game in the top flight since he took the reins.
Full-back to full-back
“Our dream team goal is that Trent comes through and Robbo scores.”
The vision of assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders back in April 2019 and the reality of Liverpool’s second goal against the Gunners last night.
Having already teed up clear-cut opportunities for Virgil van Dijk and Mane with incisive crosses from the right flank, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 34th-minute delivery found his fellow full-back sneaking into the Arsenal area at the far post.
Determined to make amends for his role in the opposition’s opening goal, Robertson deftly took one touch to control the ball and another to lift it over Bernd Leno and complete a swift turnaround on the scoresheet.
“I think I showed a bit of composure there – Mo or Sadio would have been quite happy with that!” laughed the left-back in his post-match assessment.
Alexander-Arnold and Robertson are now level on 33 goal involvements apiece in the Premier League since the beginning of the 2017-18 season.
Alisson comes up big again
Just as he did at Stamford Bridge, Alisson produced a vital save at a pivotal moment on Monday night to ensure Liverpool collected all three points.
Twice the Brazilian faced goalscorer Lacazette in a one-on-one situation midway through the second half and twice the Arsenal striker was foiled.
The offside flag was raised on the first occasion in any case, but the second incident was crucial; Alisson mirrored Lacazette’s movement to the right as he bore down on goal and got his body in the way to prevent an equaliser.
“You cannot defend Arsenal for 90 minutes with the quality they have,” said Klopp. “It’s completely normal that they have chances [and] you need a goalie for that, you need a block for that, you need all these kind of things.”
Top-eight record
Liverpool’s form against last season’s top eight in the Premier League underpinned their dominance en route to lifting the title with 99 points.
Klopp’s men chalked up 11 wins and a total of 34 points from their encounters with Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Wolves and Arsenal in 2019-20.
That output has been carried into the early stages of the new campaign, with maximum points extracted from meetings with Chelsea and Arsenal already.
“We don’t make statements, to be honest,” said the boss of his side’s 100 per cent start. “We have to improve, we have to become consistent. So far we played quite well but that’s all.”