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.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 8

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 8

The 8th week of Premier League action saw:

256 shots - most by Southampton = 34!

27 goals - most by Bournemouth = 6!

200 fouls - most by Man United = 20

30 bookings - most by Middlesbrough = 5

2 red cards - Xhaka for Arsenal and Creswell for West Ham - both harsh!

6 penalties - 2 saved, 4 scored

Danny Murphy did not get it quite right, but still an interesting read ahead of LFC v MUFC

The clash ended up disappointingly goalless, but looking back at some memorable moments will definitely keep you more entertained!

Despite all mind games and point gained apparently, Mourinwho?

What a game! Saturday had everything in it! In contrast to Super Sunday/Red Monday, it did not disappoint! All games had chances, goals, controversies and heroics left, right and centre! Although, Southampton top the list of chances with 34 shots, which is a record this season so far! They will be disappointed they beat Burnley only 3-1! But all games were smashing and MOTD was epic on Saturday. And the top scorers of the day came first in the highlights show...

What a team! Bournemouth absolutely smothered Hull City, it could have been even worse than 6-1! Eddie Howe's men made it three home wins in a row with that thrash, taking them up to ninth, whilst the Tigers' defensive woes continue, dragging Mike Phelan's side down to 16th the week after he was finally made permanent. Not a good start.
Liverpool could not often say this in the past, but they were disappointed to leave Anfield with just a point against bitter rivals Man United thanks to a great couple of saves by David de Gea. It just shows how much progress they have made under Jürgen Klopp and the more promising the future looks for the Reds.

What a man! Maarten Stekelenburg deserves the knighthood as far as Everton are concerned (or whatever the Dutch equivalent is)! Stopping two spot kicks and making crucial and breathtaking saves during the match, the keeper denied Man City three crucial points in the title race and made Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Agüero look amateur. The Dutch stopper did not help neither's men confidence with penalties, much to team mate Phil Jagielka's relief after he conceded both spot kicks. Legendary performance!

What a goal! Romelu Lukaku's opener for the Toffees against Pep Guardiola's side was a great finish to a counter, some poor defending helped along the way. Mesut Özil's magnificent volley into the roof of the net gets my vote too, completing a lovely team goal off a deliciously chipped cross by Alexis Sanchez to make it 3-1 to the Gunners against Swansea.

What the hell?! How the hell Granit Xhaka and Aaron Creswell can be sent off when Antonio Barragan stayed on the pitch for Middlesbrough?! Already on a yellow, the defender kept bullying and fouling the opposition without any further consequences, much to Watford's dismay, but Isaac Success and co stayed and ended on top, bagging the three points. The inconsistencies of the officials are gob-smacking! And if the FA let managers like José Mourinho get away with the pre-match comments and then the gestures the Portuguese made on the sideline during the match, how can they expect less pressure and more respect for the referees?! Ridiculous!

My Predictions - Actual Results
Chelsea 2:1 Leicester - 3:0
Arsenal 1:1 Swansea - 3:2
Bournemouth 3:1 Hull City - 6:1
Man City 3:1 Everton - 1:1
Stoke 1:1 Sunderland - 2:0
West Brom 2:2 Tottenham - 1:1
Crystal Palace 3:2 West Ham - 0:1
Middlesbrough 1:1 Watford - 0:1
Southampton 1:0 Burnley - 3:1
Liverpool 1:1 Man United - 0:0

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks

All pictures takes from the BBC match reports