George Priestman of LiverpoolWorld breaks down the draw at the Emirates Stadium.
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00:00Liverpool's winning run in the Premier League came to an end as they drew 2-2 with
00:04Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Goals from Van Dijk and a late equaliser from Salah ensured
00:10that Liverpool came away with a point but it was a tough game against Mikel Arteta's
00:14side who fought extremely hard all the way to the final whistle and gave Liverpool one
00:19of their toughest tests of the season so far.
00:22But what were the key talking points?
00:25One of the biggest takeaways was Arnie Slott's starting midfield of Curtis Jones, Alexis
00:30McAllister and Ryan Gravenberch. Curtis Jones came back into the side after a brilliant
00:36showing against Chelsea last weekend and it was Dominic Sloboslai who made way for the
00:42midfielder but Liverpool's midfield just really lacked that balance which didn't
00:47hold them against Arsenal who are very organised and very structurally set up.
00:52While Sloboslai has been criticised for his lack of output in that attacking midfield
00:57role, his energy, work rate and his legs are incredibly important to that midfield three
01:02and it's a big reason why they work because he's able to cover and win battles on that
01:07right hand side which allows Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold to thrive there. It's a midfield
01:13that clearly failed to live up to expectations.
01:16Another thing that plenty of people have been talking about is Andy Robertson and perhaps
01:20whether he is starting to show his age. Now 30 he has been at the club since 2017 and
01:25obviously he arrived for a bargain fee at that time of just around £8m.
01:31Clear from the game against Chelsea where he struggled against Nani Madawaki, he really
01:35struggled again against Mikaio Saka, one of the league's best players and best wingers
01:40but for the first goal he was caught out and Saka did him all ends up before finishing
01:46and it was pretty much just a simple ball over the top from Ben Wyatt which will either
01:49have brought concerns.
01:50And of course they have Kostas Tsimikas on the bench who managed a man-of-the-match performance
01:55in the Champions League against Leipzig so it's interesting to see whether he might be
01:59able to come into the side and finally prove himself as the number one left back.
02:03Or perhaps we're all being a little bit too harsh on Robertson who as mentioned has been
02:07an absolute key figure over the years and of course his best days may be behind him
02:11but he must be the most suitable person to start at that left back position for the time
02:17being.
02:18Overall, there were moments of quality for Liverpool, we saw that from the two goals.
02:23The set-piece goal was brilliant, it was a great header from Luis Diaz to flick it on,
02:28it was something they clearly had worked on and Van Dijk was in the right place at the
02:31right time and he's always such a big threat from set-pieces.
02:35And then for the equaliser, Arsenal had been frustrating them the whole of the second half
02:40but a brilliant ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold ensured that Darwin Nunes was able to feed
02:46Bahamut Salah for what was a very calm finish to come away with a point.
02:50It was an exceptional goal, a great team goal that cut Arsenal apart but Liverpool will
02:55be frustrated with the lack of energy and the lack of quality they showed in that second
02:59half to only come away with a point against what was a tough Arsenal side but an Arsenal
03:03side depleted with injuries.