One of the most anticipated matches of the Premier League season so far took place on the 23rd of December, 2023 at Anfield as league leaders Arsenal faced a Liverpool side who were just a point behind them at 2nd place so the stakes were very high.
12/27/20233 min read
The Gunners were looking to go 4 points clear at the top with a win but their last triumph at Anfield came back in the 2012/13 season. On the other hand, Liverpool were looking to get back to winning ways after a disappointing draw against Manchester United last week.
The visitors came out all guns blazing as in the 4th minute, a brilliant header by Gabriel Magalhães gave the advantage to the Gunners and stunned the Anfield crowd. It was the first goal for the Brazilian this season and it couldn’t have come at a better time for Arsenal. After the goal, Liverpool wasted no time and started a range of attacks in hopes of finding the equalizing goal.
The visitors came out all guns blazing as in the 4th minute, a brilliant header by Gabriel Magalhães gave the advantage to the Gunners and stunned the Anfield crowd. It was the first goal for the Brazilian this season and it couldn’t have come at a better time for Arsenal. After the goal, Liverpool wasted no time and started a range of attacks in hopes of finding the equalizing goal.
After 25 minutes of dominance, the Reds equalized as a perfect long ball by Trent Alexander-Arnold found Mohamed Salah who dribbled past Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and scored with a powerful left-footed shot. The Anfield crowd erupted as the ball went in. Arsenal weren’t able to keep hold of the lead for long and now Liverpool were back in the game.
However, in the 35th minute, the Reds suffered a major blow as their left-back Konstantinos Tsimikas sustained an injury after a rough tackle by Bukayo Saka. With their first choice left-back, Andrew Robertson already injured, Joe Gomez had to be brought on to do the job even though he does not play on that position.
The Gunners had a great chance to re-take the lead in the 41st minute as a beautiful pass by Gabriel Jesus found Saka who was one on one against Allison but instead of going for a shot, he tried to dribble past him. This was a bad move as the Liverpool defenders quickly got into position to block his shot at the goal line. Saka had no choice but to pass the ball to Gabriel Martinelli whose shot went wide of the goal as Liverpool somehow survived. This would be the final chance of the 1st half as both teams headed back to the dugout with the score at 1-1.
Liverpool started the 2nd half strong and almost scored in the 54th minute when Joe Gomez’s shot was just a whisker away from going in. Then in the 73rd minute, Liverpool had the best chance of the game as Arsenal’s clumsy mistake from a corner allowed Salah to lead a counter-attack and unfortunately for Arsenal, only Declan Rice was at the back to defend against 4 Liverpool players. Salah squared the ball to Trent whose shot somehow managed to miss the goal and hit the crossbar. The Reds should’ve taken the lead through that golden chance. Arsenal were very lucky that the scores were still level.
In the last 15 minutes, both teams attempted to score the winning goal but all their efforts went in vain and the match ended at 1-1. The draw meant that both teams stayed on the same position they were before the match. It’s now 2 draws in a row for Liverpool and they will be looking to bounce back against Burnley on boxing day while Arsenal will be trying to stay on top of the table with a win against West Ham at the Emirates stadium.