Motivated by Jurgen Klopp during the midweek, the Anfield faithful was ferocious as they roared Liverpool on, attempting to dispel any apprehensions ahead of a top-of-the-table match.
However, there was an early blow as Gabriel Magalhaes put Arsenal ahead after four minutes, past an unfortunate Alisson. The loss was verified following a close VAR offside check.
In the 14th minute, Mohamed Salah came dangerously close to tying the score when Cody Gakpo nodded in Wataru Endo’s cut pass. Despite this, the Kop and its associated stands continued to cheer.
Martin Odegaard stopped Salah from breaking clear through on goal with a dribble in the area similar to how he would in the NBA, and somehow Liverpool were denied an easy penalty. VAR David Coote reportedly let him go due to a slip.
Salah’s incredible equaliser was unstoppable; Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deft pass set up the No. 11 against the pitiful Oleksandr Zinchenko, who was easily sidestepped as parity was restored with a magnificent finish.
Following a shove from Bukayo Saka, Kostas Tsimikas had a concerning shoulder injury that caused him to collide with Klopp. This led the Reds to make an early change, bringing on Joe Gomez.
Liverpool maintained their lead in the second half, helped by many errors made by Arsenal in defence, with Zinchenko particularly having trouble with the ball.
Unfortunately, the Reds were unable to convert half-chances into genuine opportunities. Luis Diaz’s clumsy attempt was one glaring example, and Salah was annoyed by the lack of movement around him.
At the half, there was a three-man substitution: Darwin Nunez, who started as a left winger, Ryan Gravenberch, Harvey Elliott, and Curtis Jones replaced Diaz, Gakpo, and Jones.
After an Arsenal corner was cleared, Liverpool launched a five-on-one counterattack, spearheaded by Mohamed Salah. However, when the Egyptian found Alexander-Arnold overlapping, the right-back was only able to smash the bar.
That turned out to be the final significant opportunity, as both teams had to settle for a point, which puts Arsenal at the top of the table heading into Christmas.
