There’s no disgrace in sharing the points with a title rival.
At the business end of the Premier League margins are tight and high-stakes matches turn on moments. Hard-fought draws quite often result.
And yet, for the third time already this season, Arsenal have dropped points from a winning position and, what seems on the face of it a reasonable result, for me leaves a slightly bitter taste. I believe we had enough to take all three points from this one, particularly on the strength of our first half performance.
Patched up though they were, Arsenal were excellent for the opening 45 minutes and were good value for their lead, despite the sloppy concession of the first Liverpool equaliser.
The battle was being won largely in the midfield, with Declan Rice and Mikel Merino making light work of their opposite numbers, while Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka had their full backs all at sea. From a tactical perspective, manager Mikel Arteta had it spot on and his players executed superbly.
As we have seen time and again already in this campaign, though, Arsenal on level terms and Arsenal in the lead are like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. We have shown an irritating tendency to retreat when ahead, even if by just a single goal, and that brings with it a sort of pressure it is becoming increasingly difficult to withstand.
Sure, you would expect this sort of football with 10, perhaps 15 minutes to go but we are dropping into a defensive shape now for entire halves. It is a punishing way to try to play football and, as we are seeing, unsustainable for a team that is now riddled with injuries.
Having already lost Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba for this match, we then had to find a way to cover for injuries to Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber in a gruelling second half. This season is taking its toll.
I don’t have the counter-factual, of course, but I can’t help but feel that a better grasp of possession, playing the game higher up the pitch, might be considerably better for our players than having to toil in the defensive third for long periods.
Add to that an infuriating tendency to cede possession straight back to the opposition when we finally do put a few passes together and you begin to see the problem.
And look, I understand it’s not easy to play with such a makeshift backline against a side with Liverpool’s quality but you also have to be smart and make things easier for yourself where you can.
In the first half, we were utterly in control. In the second half, we abandoned it. I don’t believe for a second this is how Mikel wants us to play our football and I hope, with the run of games we have coming, that he can find a way for us to play positively and intelligently for the full 90.
If we’re looking for positives from the match, it was great to see Bukayo Saka back and even better to see him immediately on the scoresheet again. He is the best in the world right now and that goal was truly stunning. He made a Premier League and Champions League-winning full back look like a pub player, not just for the goal but for the entire first half. By the end of the opening 45, Liverpool had three men on him.
It was a great game also for our midfield two. In a more orthodox 6/8 setup, both Rice and Merino looked much more comfortable and had total control of their opponents in the first half.
And it was another centre-midfielder who was among the stand-out performers for Arsenal, only this one was putting in a shift as a full-back: Thomas Partey. Luis Diaz is a pacey, tricky sort of wide-forward but Partey had him pocketed like I have scarcely seen. It was a masterful performance from the Ghanian who might just be having his finest campaign in north London. I pray he can stay fit and keep growing into the season because he has fast become undroppable.
Look, there were positives to take from this one. We saw a definite improvement in level from outings against Bournemouth and Shakhtar and there are signs that, when fully fit, our midfield is among the best, if not the best, in the league.
But issues remain elsehwere. Not least with keeping everyone fit and on the field for 90 minutes. If we’re to stay in touch over the hectic winter schedule, we have to work out how to win when we get ourselves in front.
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