Arsenal again. Anfield again. A different competition. A different result. Liverpool took on Arsenal for the second time in four days at Anfield. This time around it was in the Carabao Cup and both teams played a rotated side. It’s starting to seem like Arsenal are finding a way in “cup competitions” to get the bests of Liverpool. A second tie after 90 minutes and resulting penalty shootout win for Arsenal after the same result in the Community Shield at the beginning of the season.
Going into the game I thought it would be an exciting and attacking 90 minutes from both teams, with a lot of goals on offer. However, it wasn’t like that at all. Last year this same matchup was played out to a 5-5 draw. This year Mikel Arteta has Arsenal playing differently. A 5 at the back and a very defensive style of play, caused the game to be duller than I expected. Arsenal played very similar to how they played on the weekend, willing to look for counterattacks while hoping they can hold on at the back.
The first half was kind of dull for both sides with Liverpool struggling to break down Arsenal’s low block up until that last few minutes. The best chance of the half came from a Neco Williams cross that found the head of Diogo Jota. His shot was saved by Bernd Leno and the quick reaction follow up by Takumi Minamino ended up hitting the crossbar.
The second half was all Liverpool. They were creating chance after chance, but Leno was up to the task all night long. If it wasn’t for his brilliant goalkeeping it could’ve easily been 4-0. Arsenal almost made Liverpool pay for their lack of finishing when Rob Holding’s header was saved by Adrian in one of his few actions on the night.
Liverpool failed to score for the rest of the game, and it would end up going to penalties. After both teams scored four out of the first five, Harry Wilson missed his penalty for Liverpool, and Joe Willock scored the following one to give Arsenal the win. Arsenal now will advance to the next round of the EFL Cup with Liverpool exiting early yet again.
The final result doesn’t really tell the story. For Liverpool Diogo Jota and Marko Grujic, and Rhys Williams were particularly impressive. Jota looks like he’ll fit in really well with the team and the style of play that Klopp wants out of his forwards. Right away he seems to understand the pressing nature needed from Klopp’s front line. Grujic on the other hand may be a player that is on his way out before the transfer deadline. He may have caused some to rethink that notion with his play against Arsenal. A massive aerial presence throughout the game, he defended well and created well on the attacking end. He probably wouldn’t get that much play time which might mean he still ends up departing. Rhys Williams looked impressive in this game and in the game against Lincoln City. He did get the luxury of playing alongside Virgil Van Dijk for some of his time, but all in all he looks like a very good defensive prospect for Liverpool.
Throughout the 90 minutes Liverpool looked like the better team. In a way Arsenal disappointed, but with the win in penalties it isn’t a game you can really call disappointing anymore. Arteta has shown he’s willing to play attacking football if he thinks his team can exploit the opponents. However, when the opponent is strong like Liverpool he’s not afraid to play defensive for the point, or in this case a penalty win.
This isn’t the best for Liverpool since at the end of the day they lost and they’re out of the competition. However, with Liverpool playing Arsenal so recently, and the games playing out basically exactly the same tactically, it highlights just how good Liverpool’s first team is. Less than four days before this game the first team beat a defensive Arsenal side 3-1 and looked in full control throughout the match. In this game a rotated side that still was filled with undoubted talent, could only muster a 0-0 draw and loss on penalties. Liverpool’s first team aren’t only good at what they’re doing, but what they’re doing is proven to be really difficult. Playing against low blocks is what Manchester City struggled with last year. When City were great, they were breaking down low blocks with ease. Last year, Liverpool were breaking down low blocks with ease in the Premier League.
So, while this game may be disappointing for Liverpool fans, you have to remember the extent of how good the first team at Liverpool is. The rotated team didn’t play bad at all and still couldn’t get the win. Against a similar team that was actually stronger, the first team was able to comfortably get a win. The first team at Liverpool is ridiculously good, and this Carabao Cup game with a rotated side so quickly after the first team played against the same club, shows exactly that.