Liverpool lucky to escape second red card in calamitous defeat as Arsenal keep title hopes alive

Liverpool lucky to escape second red card in calamitous defeat as Arsenal keep title hopes alive

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Stuart Ballard

By Stuart Ballard


Published: 04/02/2024

- 18:37

Updated: 04/02/2024

- 18:41

Liverpool suffered just their second Premier League defeat of the season against Arsenal.

Liverpool were the makers of their own demise away at Arsenal as the Gunners kept their Premier League title hopes alive with an emphatic 3-1 win.

The Reds have been the team to beat this season with Jurgen Klopp's side running clear at the top of the table.


They've found top gear in recent weeks too with enthralling wins over Newcastle and Chelsea.

An away trip to Arsenal was always going to provide Liverpool with one of their toughest tests of the season.

And it didn't take long for the hosts to open the scoring after Bukayo Saka tapped in following Kai Havertz's miss.

The Gunners were by far the better team in the opening 45 minutes and should have ran away with it before the break.

However, Liverpool found a surprising route back into the match when Luis Diaz caused chaos at the back for the Gunners with Gabriel tapping into his own net.

That gave Liverpool some hope heading into the second half with Arsenal's players still seemingly shellshocked.

Klopp's side were able to find more space around Arsenal's rigid defence, but David Raya was largely untested.

Then calamity hit for the visitors with the usually reliable Virgil van Dijk and Alisson failing to clear their lines.

Liverpool's familiar foe in Gabriel Martinelli took full advantage of the open goal to score his his fifth goal in 10 appearances against the Reds.

The league leaders appeared unable to recover from that setback with Liverpool running out of ideas.

Ibrahima Konate got himself sent off in the dying minutes for blocking Havertz to all but end Liverpool's hopes of a comeback.

Alisson and Virgil van Dijk were at fault for Arsenal's second

Alisson and Virgil van Dijk were at fault for Arsenal's second

GETTY

And Van Dijk was deemed fortunate by Gary Neville to escape a similar fate minutes later for a hidden kick out at the German forward.

Konate's red card coupled with Joe Gomez going off left Liverpool exposed down their right flank.

Leandro Trossard took full advantage of the free space on the wing to drive into the box and round off a strong win for the Gunners.

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Arsenal ended up deserved winners

Arsenal ended up deserved winners

GETTY

The victory now puts Arsenal just two points adrift of Liverpool at the top of the table.

Manchester City will also be thankful of Liverpool dropping points as they now have a chance of going top if they win their two games in hand.

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