Such is the nature of this year’s Premiership that a win for the visitors would have drawn Arsenal into a battle for fourth; instead, Arsene Wenger’s team’s victory , coupled with results elsewhere, saw the Gunners just six points off the league summit, and Liverpool’s thoughts of third place already a distant memory. Here’s a few points on last night’s live match:
Rafa Has The Gunners Harassed
Liverpool came to the Emirates last night having conceded just one goal in a seven match unbeaten league run, and made it difficult for their hosts to achieve any fluency with a fantastic work-rate, harrying the Gunners players any time they were in possession.
Steven Gerrard had spoken pre-match of allowing their hosts no time and space, and as this tackling chalkboard shows, Liverpool done just that; virtually all their tackles were made in the middle third of the pitch, as Arsenal were given little time to pick their passes by a determined Liverpool side, whose tactics ensured Wenger’s team never really found their rhythm.
Less Possession, Better Result
With neither side in the ascendancy for any great length of time in the match, the passing of each team, as this chalkboard shows, was more or less identical in terms of amounts, with Arsenal not as cohesive as they were in Sunday’s Stamford Bridge defeat, where Chelsea were happy for them to have the ball. Wenger, however, must have been pleased to know that his team can hold out for scrappy victories when playing nowhere near their best.
Cesc Below Par
It seems the great man is human, after all. All in all, Arsenal’s last four games have been a source of disappointment for Gunners fans, and their captain has found the going tough of late. In total, he has picked up just nine FPL points in his last four games (avl, MUN, che, LIV) with Arsenal struggling to maintain their title challenge.
Liverpool’s spoiling tactics last night done nothing for his mood; by squeezing the middle of the park, their shape meant Cesc was unable to forage forward and pose an attacking threat, nor was he able to influence the play to the extent that he typically does, as this passing chalkboard comparison with his performance in the Chelsea game shows.
In the end, he must’ve been glad to hear the final whistle; having already been yellow carded, Fabregas was perhaps fortuitous to escape the handball call in the last minute of injury time last night as Steven Gerrard’s free kick flew towards the Arsenal goal.
Diaby Looking Good
Abou Diaby, on the other hand, put on another great box-to-box midfield performance. Not only did he grab the winner, Diaby (along with Thomas Vermaelen) made the most Arsenal interceptions, and the big midfielder was also only second to Eboue in tackles made, as this chalkboard shows, in a 10 point FPL performance.
With Arsenal’s run-in now considerably easing up in terms of difficult fixtures and with FPL managers looking for Gunners players to bring in, there’s a very interesting stat on Diaby; in the last five home games he has played for Arsenal, Diaby has picked up 44 FPL points (14,9,6,5,10). Compare this to FPL £10.5m Andrei Arshavin, who has picked up 49 FPL points in his last 10 home games.
At just 5.7m in FPL, Diaby is one to seriously consider from GW27 onwards, where Arsenal begin their pursuit of Chelsea and Man Utd all over again with a home game against Steve Bruce’s Sunderland. With their next five league games being (SUN, stk, BUR, hul, WHM) Diaby, and Arsenal, will be hoping for more of the same.