Football is the game of the people and the reason people think or say such because it fulfills their imagination and understands their pulses. The flow of goals, high-octane pace, errors, and then correction of those, drama, the players running hard and skillsets juiced with spikes of brilliance – no other game can provide so many things in just 90 minutes.
After two days of crazy football in England, finally, Liverpool resorted the normality by displaying high-quality football and burying the thoughts that they are a team which have lost their Midas touch and are in decay with other contenders cropping up to dethrone them. Surely, after the dismal shows from the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City; Jurgen Klopp can be sure that his reign as the champions might not only continue, but it would continue to dazzle in the coming days.
Last night, in the clash against Arsenal, Liverpool reconfirmed the world that they are unstoppable!
Maybe Arsenal are more organized, pragmatic in outfit under Mikel Arteta, but they had no answer to Liverpool’s relentless intensity.
The start of the campaign was freakish and the emphatic victory over the Blues at Stamford Bridge last week was an indication that the Reds are flexing their muscles and charging are up gradually while the rest of the world is busy in discovering their weakness.
While the rest of the teams were busy in breaking their banks and sowing the seeds of false hopes among their fans, the Reds remained silent and observed the set up closely – Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota were signed up and it proved inspirational to Klopp’s mission 2020-21.
Arsenal had defeated Liverpool twice over the past two months and, like their hosts, entered this fixture with a perfect start, but Mikel Arteta's men were unable to build on a lead gifted to them by Andy Robertson within 25 minutes.
The left-back inadvertently set up Alexandre Lacazette to score for the visitors completely against the run of play, only for Sadio Mane to equalize 147 seconds later.
The set up to Mane’s goal was the ideal example of how the Reds strike back.
The back four became back three with Fabinho taking the place in the defensive midfield. The two wing-backs – Trent Alexander-Arnold and Robertson went higher up the pitch to press the Arsenal threat.
Gini Wijnaldum joined Fabinho in the midfield to form the double pivot, which forced Willian to move narrow and gave Robertson the license to roam freely and high up.
Hector Bellerin was left in two minds whether to mark Robertson or join Rob Holding to create a 2 vs 1 situation against Mane.
Arsenal were attracted by the double pivot of the Reds to come forward and force a turnover as high as possible - the Gunners paid a heavy price.
It opened the opportunities for the Reds and their dangerously devastating long and diagonal crosses nullified Arsenal.
Arteta tried the wall-pass and longballs to overcome the threat; last night none of them worked.
Naby Keita advanced forward and the relentless pressure led to his foul on David Luiz.
Roberto Firmino picked up the loose ball and played it to Mohamed Salah, who surged thrillingly away from Tierney like a leopard hungry for prey - his first touch into the space was majestic and whipped a shot that was beaten away by Leno. It rebounded straight to Mane, who cushioned a volley into the empty net.
The Arsenal celebration was cut short by the counter-pressing of Klopp’s Red Machine.
A few minutes later the Liverpool wing-backs came into action, which simply bamboozled the Arsenal unit.
Alexander-Arnold’s deep cross skimmed off the head of Hector Bellerin and reached Robertson, who controlled it on the chest and poked past Leno – Robbo, the villain became the hero in minutes.
If Robbo is all about chicky runs and low crosses then Trent is about devastating long and diagonal crosses.
When did Premier League last witness such a devastating wing-back pair?
Arsenal were taken out of the game in the second half as the Reds poured in their half like a unit hungry for more.
The newly signed Jota was introduced and made his presence felt as he fired into the side netting with only Leno to beat, but he rifled in from further out five minutes later to put the icing on a fifth home league win in a row for Liverpool against Arsenal.
The scoreline was 3-1, but the Reds could have scored more.
Perhaps their ruthlessness and decisiveness in front of the goal are preserved for the upcoming matches.
Surely, Liverpool are unstoppable.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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