Jurgen Klopp had warned before this match that people would say it would be good for Manchester City no matter what happened, but it is obviously great for Arsenal. This was a third huge home win against one of England’s giants this season, but maybe the most stirring of all. There was something much more convincing about it than either the victories over Manchester United and Manchester City, more value to it than the cheap errors that allowed some of the goals.
It was a proper show of substance. The only downside to this 3-1 win was opening goalscorer Bukayo Saka going off injured but Arsenal won’t want to consider that right now. Mikel Arteta certainly wasn’t thinking about it as he careered around the touchline high-fiving anyone in sight in the seconds after Leandro Trossard had put the ball through Alisson’s legs. It was the second successive goal that Liverpool had almost offered up to Arsenal, with that all the more frustrating since they had been undeservedly let back into the game through the type of calamity that might have been expected to bring an Arsenal collapse.
Not this team right now. They have clearly felt the full benefit from that January break. Liverpool instead looked like a team that could do with a rest themselves, and it gave Klopp’s words from Wednesday night a bit more edge. The German had said after the 4-1 win over Chelsea that his players looked jaded and that could be seen here.
That maybe isn’t any greater concern for the season or even their title challenge, given the run of form. There was always going to be some drop-off. They could maybe have done without it coming in this game, with this kind of significance. City can go back on top if they win their two games in hand. Arsenal, however, will maybe feel for the first time in some time they can do something about that.