It is known in football that you miss a player until he or she is gone. Liverpool’s unavailability problems finally caught up with them this afternoon.
For several weeks, much attention has been focused on the potential impact of Mohamed Salah’s withdrawal from the Africa Cup of Nations and the injury sustained during the tournament.
Even assuming Liverpool were successful in their breakthrough, this defeat to Arsenal was only possible thanks to the magic of Salah. The Egyptian equalized for the first time in an Anfield match between the two sides in December. It made a definite difference.
Diogo Jota, who was very impressive against Chelsea in midweek, struggled to make an impact on the right flank and Jurgen Klopp was left frustrated by the lack of combination on the wing afterwards.
This was in part due to the anonymous performances of Ryan Gravenberch, who once again took an unfortunate step back to replace the beleaguered Dominik Szoboszlai. The learning curve remains steep for the young Dutchman.
But we shouldn’t panic after this loss. Instead, it could serve as a reminder of just how well United have done in recent months.
Defense has rare battles
It was a very confusing situation for Trent Alexander-Arnold on his recent trip to the Emirates. The right-back suffered an injury after suffering a defensive lapse in a Premier League game last season, and despite putting in some stellar performances in January, he was hampered in the second half by a knee problem.
Debating whether the vice-captain should start here is pointless, based on sympathy for Conor Bradley’s absence since his father’s death. In his first game in a month since his injury, Alexander-Arnold looked like he hadn’t done much recently, reacting slowly to Arsenal’s attacks and not fully adjusting to the pace of the game.
Needless to say, Liverpool never thought about his full length. However, Alexander-Arnold wasn’t the only Liverpool defender to struggle. Virgil van Dijk looked uncomfortable long before taking part in Arsenal’s devastating second goal and Ibrahima Konate was never really happy with his late dismissal.
Only Joe Gomez, who filled in on the left after Alexander-Arnold’s departure, could be said to be close to his usual level. The performance was a rare miss for a defense that had previously been the stingiest in the standings this season.
If Liverpool fail in their bid to pry Jurgen Klopp from another Premier League title, it won’t be difficult to decide where to focus their inquiry.It was another game where the Reds failed to get the job done against one of their main rivals.
