Arsenal kept the title race wide open with a 3-1 win over Liverpool at the Emirates this evening.
The Gunners took the lead through Bukayo Saka, but gave away a silly goal late in the first half. Bizarrely, the same thing happened at the other end when Virgil van Dijk and Alisson got in a muddle to allow Gabriel Martinelli to roll home, and late on Leandro Trossard sealed the deal after Konate had been sent off for a second yellow card.
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
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Read the Arsenal 3-1 Liverpool match report and see the goals here
Jorgi & Havertz MOTM for me
I thought Odegaard was very good today. Never stopped running. He was basically responsible for the team’s press. Had some nice passes and should’ve had an assist.
I thought martineli was immense. You could sense that TAA and Konute were terrified of him. Bit surprised as he was that he was subbed but shows how much I know.
Martinelli gave so much energy in his play, I guess subbing him at certain point is the correct thing to do.
Our own Road Runner!
Agreed! First half in particular he was outstanding. His best game for a while.
Rice for me. But those two were great as well.
Good, now that you’ve finished ordering your food, we were debating who’s MOTM
Chelsea rejects OUT
Some people don’t get sarcasm!
Not today, chief.
What….?
Did u not watch the game? havertz was instrumental in everything we did and played really well outside of the penalty box. He just doesn’t have the finishing touch right now, but otherwise he was excellent.
I’m not going to get too negative after a brilliant performance by the team, but nah, to me havertz missed three sitters and was his usual lanky, ineffective self. Jorginho on the other hand was superb. I’d love to see him get a run alongside Rice from now on. He was super solid providing the anchor we’ve missed with Partey out.
A bit tough on Kai – he had a larger than life influence on general play and was a real thorn to their defence all match.
Though, seeing HFB sitting in the stands got me wondering what he woulda done with Martinelli’s crosses!
Right now? Never did, never will
The fact that we all have a good case for so many different players is itself awesome. Great win today.
Told my missus that she’s sharing my love with Leo tonight. Bonus rating: ♾️/10 for those Scouse tears Carragher was crying
I watched the game with my wife in an Irish bar in Madrid. When we scored the second she middle fingered the tv, I’ve never seen her act like that before but I asked no questions and joined her in middle fingering the tv. I really enjoyed it.
haha
That’s the spirit. Wife-sharing is all the rage at Arsenal these days!
I thought Kiwior was a beast. Would have been incredible if he scored that header. What a great guy to have as a part of this squad.
Agree. Really impressive. A rating of 8 for me
He was so wide open could have chested the ball down and shot it, but of course in that split second hard to fault him as you have to react so quickly. Glad to see him have such a solid outing, was afraid we were going to sell him in January. he is a solid backup option that can play in the middle or out wide on defense.
I still feel like in the long term he could compete with Gabriel for the starting LCB. Not right now ofcourse since Gabby’s having a scorcher of a season and is basically undroppable, but if god forbid he gets injured or leaves us, I really think Kiwior has what it takes to become the long term starter for us there
I’ve watched a number of his internatonal matches – he’s a proper defender, with very good feet and serious physicality. Just needs a run in the team I reckon.
Yep – anyone else feel just that little bit more relaxed with him on at LB in place of Zinch?
Especially when we’re defending a lead.
Havertz a 6.5? At least a 7 today.
Felt all the Blogs scores are a bit low, that was Liverpool ffs and we dominated them, they never had a shot on target. I was 8 as an average. Great performance all round despite the one stupid moment.
Yes, the ratings all seemed stingy today. I had 9.5s for Martinelli and Havertz and 9s for Odegaard, Rice, and Jorginho. There were a lot of players out there today who had really outstanding games. Kiwior, what a beast for 45 minutes!
Yep not sure why Blogs is giving everyone low scores when we generally played very well.
Agree, Havertz Movement was one of the main ingredients in the win today
Yea I thought he was excellent today. Shows he can give us a different option up top.
I’ve just been to the game and a couple of pints in the pub afterwards and I can assure you no-one shares these rosy assessments of Kai Havertz. For £65 m you have to ask yourself what is his super skill – speed, dribbling, shooting, aerial ability, physicality, finishing ability ? Let’s face it he has none of these. We are putting ourselves in a position to compete but look like we’ll do it with carrying a player.
If all our players were only amazing at one thing we’d have a pretty shit team.
Havertz super skill is either sitting down or passing back to their goalie.
Totally – no other Arsenal fans I know have any love for the German giraffe. I feel it’s weird how some on here go WAY over the top on praising literally the most basic of moves/passes/running off the ball he does but for some reason will slaughter the likes of Nketiah for a similar level of performance!!!
Couldn’t agree more
I think that is more what a fan is about. However, what is actually weird in my opinion, is ‘some on here’ going way over the top with their criticism of any player on the team. Havertz was good yesterday. Most would at least agree that while not great, he was good and effective. There’s no need to slag off and name call Arsenal players, and then expect people to agree, and call the others names. Funny thing is, I love and support Kai so much more, because of people like you lot who can’t see when he does well.… Read more »
I totally agree, but that seems to be an unacceptable view. He does not have the quality needed up front for a team that sees themselves as an EPL title contender
So their team’s just won their biggest match of the season yet the entire pub were slagging off Havertz? That sounds like an incredibly fun and cheerful pub. Whats it called?
The Hart Of Tottenham?
The Whingers Arms
The pub says no.
Yep – according to Blogs, Zinch was better???
Jorgi has to start in MF going forward. He’s great and makes Rice even better
In the post match interview, Jorginho was fresh, Rice was still catching his breath.
Maybe that’s because if you could some up both players’ game in a few words, Jorgi passes the ball around whereas Rice goes after it
*sum
I really think it depends on who we’re playing, if we’re trying to break down a 90min low block against Fulham it might not be wisest to start two midfielders not particularly known for their attacking prowess. That said I do think Rice has more to offer on that front than we’ve seen, especially as a crosser and finisher, so I’m not completely opposed to giving it a go.
If Partey comes back to his old self, he could cover the defensive midfield and Rice could play beside Ødegaard and Havertz/Smith Rowe in midfield.
That would be a 4 man midfield? If Partey is in the lineup Rice takes the left 8 position or as a double pivot, eithet way ESR and Havertz don’t play in this case, at least not in midfield.
Said to my boy during the game Jorgi n Dec combined very well and as TP5 may be out for a while we could do worse. Thought they complicated each other and Jorgi is a bit more of a baller than we may have thought
Complimented
Defs. He really does have the incisive passing eye – he actually achieves what Zinch too often tries to do and gives it away.
We look way more convincing both at the back and going forward with him next to Declan and Kiwior behind him. A solid beast like Kiwior compensates for Jorgi’s pace and lack of physicality, where Zinch is far less solid on def and roams out of position too often, trying to play the passes that Jorgi does by pure instinct.
Havertz should start as cf now when GJ9 not around. No more nketiah please
Yes.
Yep – I reckon if he nicks 2 or 3 he’ll go on a bit of a run. He just needs to play there!
Fully agree, and this was clear in October, so frustrating
You’re not wrong, but when we are able to create chances like today, Nketiah is a good man to put them away. While he’s not incredibly useful in most aspects, he’s a class poacher.
I thought he played a false nine but was excellent today
Van Persie, Henry, Stapleton, Bergkamp, (Havertz not in a month of Sundays).
You miss the point – I’d still take him over Eddie any day… at least he wins the ball and can hold it up without just getting bounced off it!
Is your 7 key a bit sticky Mr Blogs haha?
I thought Benny Blanco was sensational, second only to Jorginho. Got to be more than a 7 for me.
Also Saka’s 7 was a bit high to me, love the kid and he scored, but was from an open goal rebound, and the rest of his game just wasn’t clicking
Think your a bit harsh, Saka worth at least a 7, was tidy worked hard going forward and in defensive, linked well – not his sparkling best, but still scored the opener and helped the team win the game.
It wasn’t an open goal rebound. His control was superb, the ball came at him fast.
Jesus or Havertz could have easily miscontrolled, skied or slammed that Saka shot against the post. You cannot discount the control and precision involved under pressure.
If I may I’d like to disagree slightly. 2nd half when they got 3 shots off in the 1st 5 mins of 2nd half I saw Saka busting a gut helping out defensively
Maybe he was a bit off offensively but the boy put in a shift to help his team
Have to disagree with this, the opening goal was so important and he worked very hard for the team in and out of possession. Also, while teams are giving him extra attention and working to limit him, they’re leaving more space for the likes of Martinelli to exploit on the other side.
Saka was excellent and got the crucial goal through his calmness and natural goalscorer’s instincts. He made a great tackle or two as well. He’s the one player you’d always want on the ball in their box as it feels like he can make things happen.
If you watch the goal he does really well to lift the ball high into the net, if he does not do that the defender can slide and easily clear it, he was on it today I thought the same.
And Trosser getting a 7 which means he was no better than Zinch?
I know this will sound fake but at halftime I had a feeling that Trossard would come on and score in this game. Havertz did quite well up top, and Kiwior with a good game as well. So glad our error didn’t cost us the game. Kept pressuring their defense and it paid off!
LEO! LEO!
Leo is such an immense impact sub. I always feel like he’s going to score or at least cause problems when he comes on.
I said this when we bought him: 20m ??? Steal of the season!
I actually thought Kiwior was excellent, against some dangerous attacking players. I was impressed today, an 8.
Allison 3 assists today, VvD two love it
Arsenal scored 4… Scouse scored zero.
You gotta love it.
Big game. Big players. Big performance.!
Haverzt is deceptively fast for his lanky stature.
Playing Jorginho was the master stroke today! Subbing Martinelli almost ruined it for me.
Good job boys!
I think that starting with one of Martinelli or Trossard, and when the defence is tiring, subbing on the other one, is a serious weapon that MA8 is making good use of!
And then his replacement scored! I was surprised at how quickly Leo moved with the ball toward goal. I think of him as slow and tricky. Today he was quick and tricky. He just tooled Elliot to get clear on the sideline.
I don’t think of Leo as slow! I love the guy – has a sharp footballing brain, not afraid to drive and pass forward and have a shot.
Had this been prior to the Konate red card, I suspect Elliott would just have just taken Trossard out with a professional foul
Bye bye Kloppo, bye bye Kloppo, we hate to see you go!
Raya created that first goal
And the second, in fairness
lol – but partly true. Big Willie clearly shows him the screen so he can come and claim it – and he dithers.
Very stingy with the ratings today. Havertz 6.5 is ridiculous. He went toe to toe with VVD and looked very impressive. From some of the ratings you would have thought we lost 1 – 0 to Burnley, not just beaten quite possibly the best team in Europe right now 3 – 1.
Havertz had one of the wettest shots in history that luckily fell to Saka for the goal, he linked ok and fell over a lot. 7 rating, maximum.
Totally – missed three sitters.
Tremendous performances from several key players. Martinelli, Odegaard, Rice all had their A+ games going, with the usual solid contributions from others, including important ones from the bench in Kiwior and Trossard. But the biggest surprise was Jorginho, who thoroughly deserved his MOTM.
Did Blogs watch the game or just the highlights? Jorginho was sensational and Havertz somehow only got a 6.5? Both ratings way too low.
I gave Jorginho the highest rating
Gabriel Jesus! Tough crowd, Blogs.
Fair enough Blogzmeister – my issue is Trosser getting the same as Zinch?
One kinda/maybe part-assisted in the early chance, got caught out of position on a diagonal (again) and gave away a lazy square pass… and then went off.
The other – came on, skinned two Scousers from an impossible position, scampered down the pitch and made the match safe.
C’mon fella… hardly comparable!
Blogs just in a bad mood for some reason I reckon
The last 3 games Trossard has done really well, before that I thought he wasn’t good enough but have to accept might have got it wrong.
I suspect, like many players, there will be some situations where he excels and some where good things just aren’t going to happen. But there’s no question he’s a very intelligent player, composed, and technically gifted. And underneath that quiet demeanor is a fierce competitor. There should be room and opportunity on the Arsenal squad with those attributes.
Plus, like Martinelli he scores a bit against the Mugsmashers though mostly while at Brighton. What a fabulous purchase Leo’s been!
Someone mentioned the other week how the number of comments on here drop dramatically when we win. Got no hair don’t care and Me2 have been trolling the team as usual but seem to have gone quiet because we won.
It’s quite strange, it’s almost as if our fans here are more vocal when we lost a match with rife criticisms tales of doom and when we win, they just go mute instead of celebrating, very strange I must say.
TBH, I mostly come on the site when we win, to try to give a longer lasting effect to the happiness of winning and bash in the generalized positivity.
I’m negative enough by myself when we lose or have a shi**y draw so no point in feeding the negativity.
Wise words – however one mustn’t underestimate the value in the Fellowship of the Frustrated.
That double pivot was brilliant. It enabled us to play long behind TAA or short into Odegaard and Saka and Liverpool couldn’t deal with it at all. Kudos to Arteta, well managed.
Klopps go back in July…
10/10 for Arteta’s sprint goal celebration.
Yep – watching it, the thought struck me: no fucking way that fella’s going to bloody Barcelona!!!
Admin seem to have an agenda against certain players, especially Raya. Both Raya and Haverts deserve more than their 6.5 ratings.
Thought the midfield was huge today – Rice and Odegaard are almost always good so maybe the MOTM nod should go to Jorginho who was a revelation. He obviously relished getting the start. I thought Raya was better than 6.5. It’s not his fault that Liverpool couldn’t hit the net but he defended corners well and his distribution was very good.
Raya, in fairness, was partly culpable for their goal. It’s the keeper’s job to rule their area – and when a defender is clearly shielding it for you to come and claim, you bloody do it!
He dithered just a few fatal seconds.
Yes I just watched that Liverpool goal 4 more times. It is Raya at fault, not Saliba. Saliba is clearly shielding and waiting for Raya to claim. Raya has plenty of time to claim it but he just dithers.
Very disappointed Arteta’s Klopp-style fist pumps didn’t get a mention in the bonus ratings.
I’d like to see Jorginho get a run of games now. Real balance in our midfield today and he was central to that.
I don’t think big Gabriel gets enough credit in our team. Another dominant defensive performance from him and also played the ball over the top of Liverpool to martinelli well throughout the game. His passing has improved hugely since he first arrived. Definitely a shout for man of the match.
White’s nonchalant nutmeg in the first half? 10/10
I thought White was a contender for MoTM. He was fabulous. So great to have him back fully fit and on form.
The narrative on Havertz with the pundits/commentators seems clear… thought he was very good today. Hope he can become as comfortable at 8 as he is at 9
I think he’d be great at the 12……as in, on the bench
He was bang average and missed another sitter before Saka got him out jail first half.
Kiwior deserves a run in the team now I really rate him as a defender, Trossard as well never panics, we need to continue to share the load around keep it fresh, smith Rowe for Haverts the other day worked perfectly keep everyone hungry for game time.
He played very well but he’s not a left back and just like Zinchenko, gets exposed against a tricky skillful winger.
Errrm – not! We looked rock solid with him behind Jorgi.
Really low ratings, Blogs
It’s not a crime 😉
Unable to vote again.?
Same here, I can never vote more than once. Tiresome.
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We’ll get it fixed in the next app update – for now just use a browser
Jorge conflated. Him and Zin let too much down L. Raya fault. Havertz oddly wasted, I think, plays a cute pass from deep to everyone when st but seems blind goat when midfielder. Odd Becker, disgusting White yellow, barely a red and don’t forget the lack of Salah. Lucky win
Nice update to the design Blogs! 👍
We’ll take that! An unexpectedly large positive for me was how Declan and Jorgi melded together so seamlessly… bodes very well for the run-in, especially since Lord only knows when/if Thomas will ever be fit again! Havertz ‘penalty’ – agree that it’s a 50/50 call however, just for some perspective on PGMOL, imagine either Xhaka or David Luiz had put in that tackle. Pen all day long as possibly even a red just for good measure… lol. Blogs’ ratings – how on earth does Zinch get the same rating as Martin and Marti (nelli) ??? Seriously fella – this Zinch… Read more »
Just realised I forgot to add Trosser to the ‘Blogs 7s club’ – he came on, spun a web around their 2 Orc defenders and only clinched the game with that 3rd goal – and he gets the same rating as Zinch??