Match Day Thread Arsenal vs Liverpool - Matchday Thread

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Venue: Emirates Stadium
Date: Sunday 9th October 2022
KO time: 16:30 BST

Overall Record

Wins: 81
Losses: 94
Draws: 62

Last six meetings

Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool
Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool (League Cup)
Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal (League Cup)
Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal
Arsenal 0-3 Liverpool
Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal (League Cup - Arsenal win on penalties)

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Since Klopp's been at Liverpool, we have a wretched record against them.

In the league, the only time we've beaten them was the 2-1 win in July 2020, when they'd already wrapped the league up. The only other times were in the League Cup on penalties at Anfield and in the 2020 Community Shield on penalties - despite counting as official wins, these are much less significant if we're being honest.

Our last game against them was fairly even up until Jota scored (as he always seems to do against us) and then it knocked the wind out of our sails.

I'm hoping this time we can start to put in better performances and get positive results against them. Need to buck this trend.

 

****ing massive result that

MASSIVE

Every player was a warrior out there today. The way this team fight for each other is incredible.

COYG !

Top of the league

 

Great result - performance was a bit stretched in first half but second half, we defended much better and were brave in entering their box - apparently we had 46 touches in their area tonight, more than the previous 5 games combined.

8 wins out of 9, beat Spurs and Liverpool back-to-back and top of the table. Life is sweet

 

That was a HUGE win and a quality performance.

I honestly thought we would lose this one today. Martinelli was brilliant.

You have to say that now were are genuine title contenders.

 

Tell me what you have been taking. I’ll have some too as I’d like to have a good time too

 

How are we not at this point?

 

well i assume , unfortunately , City will win it again but i agree right now you have to be considered title contenders .

Should point out beating us this season sadly isn't that big a deal .

 

Yeah ..Arsenal are back challenging but I don't think we can finish above City.

But we are much improved this Season and will wager we finish the Season with a decent point total.

 

In a normal season I would agree. But no team would realistically say that they are title contenders with one team miles better than all the others. Your best 11 could beat most teams in this league. But one or two key players off injured (inevitable in a long season) would weaken the team significantly as the reserves are not as good as City’s. What I would agree is that Arsenal are in pole position for the CL even runners up place and it would take a huge downturn for you to miss out.

 

Two players I want to give a mention to are Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White.

Tomiyasu had the left hand side on lock and had an excellent game against Salah.



Meanwhile, Ben White has put in another fantastic performance for us at RB, in another big game, and rose to the occasion. He’s been an unsung hero. There is a reason why he’s been starting for us at RB despite usually being a CB. He’s had an exceptional season so far.

 

A point on the Gabriel handball incident with Jota:

On initial viewing, I thought it was a penalty and that it was going to be given. I was stunned when I saw we got away with it.

However, I’ve just seen replays of the incident in slow motion and the ball actually hits Gabriel’s upper torso and then hits his arm - which means I don’t think it’s a penalty.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/co...urce=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Pundits and journalists were bemoaning that decision but it turned out to be the right one.

 

I’m not sure that makes any difference. The arm was out in a so called unnatural position and the ball brushing against the chest is still not relevant if the ball is stopped by the arm/hand. Tbh the VAR would have to be nit picking to actually rule out a pen here. 99% of observers would give it here.

 

Ricochets and deflections do make a difference, though. And it makes a difference if the ball has hit his arm after touching another body part first. We also have to factor in the proximity between the players which was minimal and the trajectory of the ball which is changed.

If it had hit Gabriel’s hand straight away, then yeah, it’s absolutely a penalty. The fact it hits his body and then his hand makes a difference. I don’t think it’s as contentious as people think.

 

There was a case when a penalty was given when the defender tried to block a big shot from the edge of the area. The ball hit his thigh as he slid in and on then his arm as he was going down. The pen was given. The ball was travelling at speed and there is no way the defender could do anything about it. Not sure whether it was a Utd or City defender but that caused a lot of discussion with many people saying that the arm could have prevented a goal etc.

In this case it’s handball. Therefore a pen. But we’ll have to agree to disagree.

 

I'm willing to bet VAR didn't even notice the "deflection" and the decision was based solely on deciding Olivers decision wasn't a clear and obvious error .
I think the decision was wrong but in this country the officials decision making is so poor i cannot get worked up by this type of "error" .

 

That is what is so stupid. What does clear and obvious mean when it’s such an important and wrong decision ? The whole refereeing in this country is a complete mess and there is no one competent enough to sort it. Every weekend sees different decisions and chaos.

 

well like most refereeing decisions it is subjective what is treated as a clear and obvious error.

 

I thought we were lucky to get away with it tbh. But we (like others) have been on the end of so many bullshit VAR decisions, that it just evens itself out in the end. Some you get away with, some you get lucky with and others you get ****ed over by.

Which kind of negates the very reason for having VAR anyway, because referees, whether they have video technology or not, will always make mistakes.