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3 weeks ago
44 Title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool played out a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners twice took the lead, first through a sensational early strike from Bukayo Saka, then just before half-time as Mikel Merino headed home a Declan Rice free-kick.
However, Liverpool twice fought back to take a share of the points, with Virgil van Dijk heading home from close range in the first half and Mohamed Salah converting inside the box late in the second half.
The result probably plays into the hands of defending champions and leaders Manchester City more than anyone else, but neither side can be too disgruntled with a point in a pulsating match between two elite sides.
Here are the full player ratings from the Emirates Stadium:
Arsenal vs Liverpool player ratings: Mohamed Salah saves the day
Arsenal player ratings (4-2-3-1)
David Raya – 6/10 – Made a couple of decent stops and could do nothing about the goals.
Thomas Partey – 8/10 – Filled in brilliantly at full-back, making a match-high five tackles and only being dribbled past twice.
Ben White – 8/10 – A superb pass for Saka’s goal and looked just as comfortable defensively at centre-back as he does at right-back.
Gabriel – 7/10 – Came off early into the second half after a collision with Darwin Nunez. Had won all five of his combined aerial and ground duels and will be a huge miss for Arsenal if he’s out long-term.
Jurrien Timber – 7/10 – Had a couple of scary moments up against Salah but, on the whole, did a great job limiting the Egyptian forward. Came off injured late on but doesn’t look serious.
Mikel Merino – 8/10 – Opened his Arsenal account with a great header from Declan Rice’s perfect cross. Probably should have scored 20 minutes earlier as well, but a strong all-round performance.
Declan Rice – 8/10 – Was a menace with his set pieces, while he put in a mountain of work both with and without the ball.
Bukayo Saka – 9/10 – Made one of the best left-backs on the planet look like he played for the Dog and Gun Sunday League team with his goal. Continued to terrorise the Liverpool defence thereafter and only really started showing signs he’d come straight back from injury late into the second half.
Leandro Trossard – 6/10 – Showed quite a few bright moments of quality on the ball without influencing things too much.
Gabriel Martinelli – 5/10 – Showed a terrible lack of composure when the ball broke for him in the final third and was wasteful with the ball, completing just 61% of his passes.
Kai Havertz – 6/10 – Made a nuisance of himself as always, but missed a couple of decent half-chances.
Substitutes
Jakub Kiwior (54′, for Gabriel) – 4/10 – Not close enough to Lewis-Skelly to get over and help him on Salah’s goal.
Myles Lewis-Skelly (76′, for Timber) – 3/10 – Well out of position on Salah’s goal, punished ruthlessly by a world-class Alexander-Arnold pass.
Gabriel Jesus (85′, for Saka) – 6/10 – Fired one powerful shot straight at Kelleher but didn’t get into the game otherwise.
Ethan Nwaneri (85′, for Martinelli) – 6/10 – A couple of flashes of talent but needed more time.
Liverpool player ratings (4-3-3)
Mohamed Salah scored a late equaliser for Liverpool. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)Caoimhin Kelleher – 5/10 – Helpless for the two goals but did everything else asked of him, although he was unusually sloppy with some of his long passing.
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7/10 – Whipped in an excellent corner to help set up Van Dijk’s equaliser and then found an excellent pass to set Liverpool away on Salah’s goal. Excellent bookends to what was an otherwise below-average performance by his standards. But isn’t football all about moments?
Ibrahima Konate – 7/10 – Kept busy but did a decent job in extended periods of Arsenal pressure.
Virgil van Dijk – 7/10 – Marked up for his goal and putting in a decent overall performance. But maybe he should try sprinting to help out Robertson when faced with Saka one-on-one?
Andy Robertson – 3/10 – Was ‘shredded‘ by Saka on the opening goal, but needed help from Van Dijk. Ineffective going forward, failing to create a chance or complete any of his three attempted crosses.
Curtis Jones – 6/10 – Neat and tidy with the ball but far too safe with it. Didn’t build on his stunning performance against Chelsea last weekend.
Ryan Gravenberch – 5/10 – Felt like the game bypassed him a little, which is surprising given how immense he’s been this season.
Alexis Mac Allister – 4/10 – Failed to get into the match at all and was taken off just after the hour mark having been booked.
Mohamed Salah – 8/10 – Allowed only a couple of brief openings, but took full advantage of his biggest chance deep into the second half. That’s what elite players do.
Darwin Nunez – 7/10 – Tried his best to make a mess of the pass to Salah for his goal but he pulled it off, saving what was a tough afternoon previously for the Uruguayan.
Luis Diaz – 6/10 – A great flick-on for Van Dijk’s goal but was otherwise well-marshalled by Partey.
Substitutes
Kostas Tsimikas (63′, for Robertson) – 7/10 – Seemed to add more stability and energy to the left flank, although it must be said, Saka started to run out of steam shortly after the Greek’s introduction.
Dominik Szoboszlai (63′, for Mac Allister) – 5/10 – Hit one shot so far wide it wasn’t even credited as a shot by the stat gurus. Didn’t do much else.
Cody Gakpo (63′, for Diaz) – 6/10 – Some tidy touches and dangerous runs without being decisive.
Wataru Endo (90′, for Jones) – 6/10 – Came on at the end to help secure the point.
