Crazy Six-Goal Draw At Arsenal

Sports - Football - Premier League - AFC 3:3 LFC

Three goals in 388 crazy second-half seconds saw Arsenal come back from two goals down, but Liverpool grabbed a third to make it 3-3 and a point each in a gob-smacking encounter at the Emirates on Friday Night Football.

The Reds bossed the Gunners around in the first half and could have been three or four goals up at the break.

Despite losing captain Jordan Henderson early on due to a suspected hamstring injury, James Milner replacing him, the visitors dominated.

But only Philippe Coutinho's first headed goal for the club separated the two sides at half time, both Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah missing a couple of sitters.

The great Egyptian doubled the visitors' lead after the interval with a deflected strike after another one of his great individual runs, recording his 15th league goal of the season.

It looked like Jürgen Klopp's side were going to crush the home side, such was their command.

But suddenly Arsène Wenger's men woke up!

Alexis Sánchez headed in Hector Bellerin's cross from close range before Simon Mignolet failed to save Granit Xhaka's powerful strike from 25 yards.

A couple of minutes later Mesut Özil clipped the ball over Mignolet off Alexandre Lacazette's cheeky back heel to make it 3-2 and turn the game on its head.

Liverpool were gob-smacked. Frozen, zoned-out defence + slow, insecure keeper = three goals conceded in 388 seconds, their confident two-goal lead out the window.

It was end-to-end stuff after that goal-rush, both sides looking to add more to the scoreboard.

The Reds had the final say thanks to man of the match Roberto Firmino's powerful finish, Arsenal keeper Petr Cech could only slow it down but not stop it from bouncing over the line.

So, 3-3 it ended, the point keeping Liverpool in fourth and Arsenal in fifth, a point between the two.

Under Klopp, the Reds have lost 43 points in the league from winning positions, the most of any team in Europe.

There is no doubt in their strike force, the "Fab Four", but it's the back that crumbled and leaked too much once again.

But hey, we're used to goals galore between these two sides!

There have been 27 goals scored in the past five Premier League meetings (10 for Arsenal, 17 for Liverpool), an average of 5.4 goals per game!

Liverpool have scored 54 away goals in all competitions in 2017, their most in a calendar year since 1982 (66).

And since Klopp's first Premier League game in October 2015, the Reds have seen 279 goals in their games (174 scored, 105 conceded), more than any other side.

I don't know whether to cheer or cry or both, because we're so awesome and useless at the same time (front and back respectively, contrast).

Something/someone has to change in January to make sure these insecurities don't end up costing and make us drop out of the top four!

Arsenal Goals: Sánchez 53', Xhaka 56', Özil 58'.

Liverpool Goals: Coutinho 26', Salah 52', Firmino 71'.

Arsenal Team: 33 Cech; 24 Bellerin, 6 Koscielny (c), 18 Monreal (20 Mustafi 45'), 30 Maitland-Niles; 10 Wilshere, 29 Xhaka; 17 Iwobi (booked 58') (23 Welbeck 78'), 11 Özil, 7 Sánchez (14 Walcott 89'); 9 Lacazette. 4-2-3-1
Subs not used: 13 Ospina, 31 Kolasinac, 34 Coquelin, 35 Elneny.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet; 12 Gomez, 6 Lovren, 17 Klavan, 26 Robertson; 14 Henderson (c) (7 Milner 13'), 23 Can; 11 Salah, 10 Coutinho (21 Oxlade-Chamberlain 84'), 19 Mané (5 Wijnaldum 80'); 9 Firmino. 4-2-3-1
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 20 Lallana, 29 Solanke, 66 Alexander-Arnold.

HT Stats: AFC 0-1 LFC
Possession: 52%-48%
Shots: 4-8
On target: 0-4
Corners: 3-3
Fouls: 4-4

FT Stats: AFC 3-3 LFC
Possession: 54%-46%
Shots: 11-14
On target: 4-9
Corners: 7-8
Fouls: 9-11
Yellow cards: 1-0

Referee: Martin Atkinson
Man of the match: Roberto Firmino
Ground: Emirates
Attendance: 59,409

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match report, Twitter and SFR coverage.

Liverpool Thrash Sorry Arsenal 4-0

Sports - Football - Premier League - LFC 4:0 AFC

Liverpool thrashed Arsenal 4-0 at Anfield, no competition, full stop.

The Reds were in total control from kick-off to the final whistle and could have scored more against the Gunners in the Super Sunday clash.

The first goal was great, a nice header from Roberto Firmino with 17 minutes gone, off a cross by Joe Gomez, who did well down the right.

The second was a superb counter attack, Sadio Mané finishing off nicely with a curled effort after a quick run on the left and Firmino picked him out spot-on.

Jürgen Klopp's men were dictating nearly everything and Arsène Wenger had to make changes after the break.

But neither Francis Coquelin nor Olivier Giroud or Alexandre Lacazette made any difference, the first brought on at the start of the second half, the other two just past the hour.

Shambolic stuff followed after the interval, just before the double-change was made by the visitors.

Hector Bellerin gave the ball away off an Arsenal corner for Mohamed Salah to pounce on it, with a clear run on goal, and slot it home to make it 3-0, a cool finish past Petr Cech.

No one was left back by the Gunners. And it didn't get any better, they just didn't wake up.

The Reds were left free to dance and prance all over them, sub Daniel Sturridge making it 4-0 with just under a quarter of an hour to go, heading the ball in with plenty of time and space.

Cech has conceded 30 goals against Liverpool, more than any other side in the Premier League.

It was 10-0 in shots on target. It was the first time since 2014 Arsenal didn't get any attempts towards the goal.

This no-show performance by Arsenal was even worse than the 5-1 thrashing I attended with my boyfriend (who is an Arsenal fan) back in February 2014.

Liverpool were just hungrier, more organised, sharper and quicker, pressing, squeezing and squashing anything and everything out of their opponents, not giving them any breathing space or chance whatsoever.

Klopp had raised eyebrows by letting out-of-favour number one Loris Karius start ahead of in-form-ish keeper Simon Mignolet for a clash that is not exactly known and remembered for its lack of goals. Quite the opposite.

But apart from the odd shaky reaction to pass backs and not the best kicks, the German stopper didn't get anything to deal with or worry about.

Arsenal were just embarrassing. They didn't offer or form any kind of counter, opposition, cover, defence, form or even will!

Wenger in? Wenger out? Definitely shaking all about!

Meanwhile, this very convincing win will take Liverpool into the international break and transfer deadline day very confident and comfortable up to second place in the league table, two points behind high-flying rivals Manchester United.

Liverpool Goals: Firmino 17', Mané 40', Salah 57', Sturridge 77'.

Liverpool Team: 1 Karius, 12 Gomez, (booked), 32 Matip, 6 Lovren (booked), 18 Moreno, 23 Can (16 Grujic 83'), 14 Henderson, 5 Wijnaldum, 11 Salah, 9 Firmino (7 Milner 80'), 19 Mané (15 Sturridge 73').
Subs not used: 52 Ward, 17 Klavan, 29 Solanke, 66 Alexander-Arnold.

Arsenal Team: 33 Cech, 16 Holding (booked), 6 Koscielny, 18 Monreal, 15 Oxlade-Chamberlain (9 Lacazette 62'), 8 Ramsey (34 Coquelin 46'), 29 Xhaka (booked), 24 Bellerin, 11 Özil (booked), 7 Sánchez (12 Giroud 62'), 23 Welbeck (booked).
Subs not used: 13 Ospina, 14 Walcott, 20 Mustafi, 31 Kolasinac.

Match Stats: LFC-AFC
Possession: 49%-51%
Shots: 18-8
On target: 10-0
Corners: 4-3
Fouls: 6-9
Yellow cards: 2-4

Referee: Craig Pawson
Man of the match: Sadio Mané
Ground: Anfield
Attendance: 53,206

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All pictures, stats and facts are taken from the BBC match report, SFR & Twitter match coverage.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 1

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 1

In the first week of the Premier League action we saw:

31 goals - most by Arsenal & Man United = 4 each
257 shots - most by Southampton = 29!!!
80 on target - most by Arsenal = 10
126 corners - most by Palace = 12
217 fouls - most by Huddersfield & Man United = 19 each
33 yellow cards - most by Chelsea = 4
3 red cards - 2 for Chelsea (Cahill & Fábregas) & Shelvey for Newcastle
1 penalty - 1 scored (Roberto Firmino for Liverpool, see my match report for more details)

What a game! Wow! It certainly returned with a bang! Welcome back to the Premier League! Yeah! We saw 13 goals in the opening two games alone, Arsenal coming back 4-3 against Leicester and Liverpool dropping points 3-3 at Watford! But another game gets my vote: Champions Chelsea shattered down to nine men after two red cards and shocked 2-3 at home by Burnley on Saturday! MOTD was just cracking, goals and action galore! MOTD2 less so but hey, you can't have everything! ⚽👊😜👊⚽

What a team! Newly promoted Huddersfield had a dream start thrashing Crystal Palace 0-3 at Selhurst Park! It was a miserable first game for Frank de Boer, seeing Danish centre-back Mathias Jørgensen's header fly in off his own player Joel Ward before Steve Mounie's double condemned his side to an opening day defeat. David Wagner and his side were celebrated and very happy after their first success on their return to the top flight after an absence of 45 years. But the pundits were quickly distracted and already hailing and crowning the Red Devils as the champs-to-be after their 0-4 thrashing of West Ham on Sunday. It was United's 17th opening day win in the Premier League era, a record. The Hammers have suffered most defeats on the first day = 11. But hold your horses and calm down! It was only day one!

What a man! It was certainly the debutants' day! New Gunner Alexandre Lacazette and Blue striker Alvaro Morata, Red Mohamed Salah, and Red Devil Romelu Lukaku were all on the scoreboard, the last one twice. Super subs Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud made the difference for Arsenal on Friday night with two goals in two minutes, 83' and 85' respectively! And good old Wayne Rooney of course was back on the scoreboard for Everton after 13 years away. He had to! On the other hand, all the red cards = red faces! Shame on Gary Cahill and Cesc Fábregas for Chelsea and Jonjo Shelvey for Newcastle! Needless, unprofessional, you would have thought they know better and it's only day one!!!

What a goal! There were so many of them to choose from, I'll go for the earliest smacker = Lacazette's header after just 100 seconds for Arsenal. Sadio Mané's opener and leveller for Liverpool was a fantastic finish! And Jamie Vardy impressed with a confident and strong double. Eventhough they ended up losers at the Emirates, they resembled the classy, flashy, entertaining Foxes we so loved to watch in the season before last.

What the hell?! Do the officials remember and understand the offside rule?!?!?! Although teams seem to have forgotten how to defend set pieces, Arsenal and Liverpool especially! But come on! It's only day one and the referees are already doing their best/worst to drive everyone mad! Giving or denying or ignoring decisions that look clear to everyone else! See my match report for details... Argh!

My Predictions - Actual Results
Arsenal 2:1 Leicester - 4:3
Watford 2:1 Liverpool - 3:3 or my match report
Chelsea 3:1 Burnley - 2:3
Crystal Palace 1:1 Huddersfield - 0:3
Everton 4:2 Stoke City - 1:0
Southampton 3:1 Swansea - 0:0
West Brom 1:2 Bournemouth - 1:0
Brighton 1:2 Man City - 0:2
Newcastle 2:2 Tottenham - 0:2
Man United 2:1 West Ham - 4:0

Click here for my previous Premier League Picks blog.

All stats, facts and pictures were taken from live SFR match coverage, MOTD and the BBC match reports.