Arsenal v Liverpool: Premier League – live! | Football

The whistle goes, and that’s the sort of performance that wins titles! Liverpool make it nine in a row, and they’re now only one point behind the leaders Manchester City! Arsenal asked plenty of questions in the first half, but were outclassed in the second.

90 min +2: Xhaka loops into the Liverpool box from the left. Alisson, whose save from Odegaard has proved so crucial, plucks the ball from the sky. Speaking of which, on the satellite channel, Gary Neville names Joel Matip as his man of the match.

90 min +1: White spins the in-rushing Mane to earn a cheer from the home fans. Nothing comes of it, but it’s a decent party piece nonetheless.

89 min: Thiago is replaced by Jones. He saunters off the field in the clock-management style, and earns a hug from Klopp when he finally reaches the white line.

88 min: Martinelli comes this close to changing everything! He runs onto a pass down the inside-left channel, opens his body and steers a Thierry Henryesque effort across Alisson and inches wide of the right-hand post. That would have been a lovely goal.

87 min: Cedric is bowled over by Mane out on the right. A free kick and a chance for Arsenal to line up on the edge of the Liverpool box. Cedric takes it himself … but Van Dijk heads clear with authority.

85 min: Robertson tears down the left from deep and drifts infield. Having done the hard yards, and with Arsenal again light at the back, he underhits a diagonal pass that would free Salah down the right. Liverpool have passed on a couple of good situations to score a third now.

83 min: Thiago flies in on Partey. Arsenal aren’t happy, but it looked a robust tackle, nothing more. Will that gee up the hosts into one final push? They’ve been extremely passive since the second goal.

80 min: White ships possession 30 yards from his own goal. Arsenal are light at the back, but Salah, Firmino and Mane can’t quite find the right combination to unlock the hosts. A big chance to put this to bed is spurned.

78 min: He hits it long. Van Dijk can’t get any purchase on his header and Arsenal clear their lines.

77 min: Liverpool play some patient stuff down the right and eventually win a corner. Alexander-Arnold to take.

75 min: Cedric whips a cross in from the right. Alisson, Matip, Fabinho and Henderson combine to make a meal of clearing, but the flag goes up for offside with the ball bouncing around in no man’s land near their box.

74 min: Saka was a huge problem for Liverpool in the first half. In this second, not so much. He’s replaced by Pepe.

73 min: Acres for Martinelli to drive into down the left. Martinelli is never quite in control, though, allowing Alexander-Arnold to step across and shepherd him out of play. Goal kick.

71 min: Matip tries to Beckenbauer his way into the Arsenal box with a glorious run down the middle, but he takes on one man too many. Firmino tries to keep the move going but some things are just not meant to be.

70 min: Firmino attempts to Cruyff turn Partey, and cops an arm in the face for his trouble. It would have been a soft booking, but you’ve seen them given. Probably just as well it wasn’t, because Arteta is beyond livid at the mere award of a foul.

69 min: Smith-Rowe and Saka cause a bit of bother down the right. The former has a dig from a tight angle. Matip blocks bravely, but that’s a lively first contribution by the Arsenal sub.

67 min: Salah dribbles hard down the right. His dinked cross floats out for a goal kick. Odegaard, who was brilliantly denied by Alisson just before Ramsdale’s error, makes way for Smith-Rowe.

66 min: Liverpool slow it down a bit. For the first time this evening, they’ve established a semblance of control. Plenty of time for Arsenal to get back into this, though, and one goal would change everything.

64 min: Like Jota before him, Firmino has a habit of scoring against Arsenal. That’s his ninth against the Gunners, and he’s not scored more against any other side. He earns a booking, though, for disappearing into the crowd during his celebration.

This might have an effect, though. Firmino presses down the right, wins the ball and cuts back for Thiago. Salah takes the ball off Thiago’s toe and lashes low from ten yards. Arsenal block. The ball finds Robertson on the left. He dribbles down the byline and rolls into the six-yard box for Firmino, who deftly flicks across Ramsdale and into the bottom right. What a substitution!

60 min: Some dude tries to tie or handcuff himself to Alisson’s goalpost, and is hauled off by the forces. Play continues, and Martinelli looks to leave Alexander-Arnold behind him again, sailing in from the left, only for the flag to pop up for offside as he prepares to shoot from the edge of the area. Arsenal haven’t let the goal deflate them.

58 min: A free kick for Arsenal out on the left. Martinelli slips it down the channel for Lacazette, but the striker’s on the back foot and the ball trickles through to Alisson. Up the other end, Salah’s first act is to blaze a wild shot over the bar from distance.

56 min: Liverpool were preparing to take Jota off … and Klopp sticks with his decision. He’s replaced by Salah, while Firmino comes on for Diaz. That goal was Jota’s fifth here in three games, but it’s his last kick of the evening. What a way to go out, though!

Thiago, who nearly teed up Lacazette for an Arsenal opener, sets up Jota for a Liverpool one instead. Jota strides into the box down the left and lashes hard towards the bottom left. Ramsdale is beaten at his near post – an awful mistake, a strong hand should have parried that – and Jota wheels off in ear-cupping celebration!

54 min: It’s still hosing down in north London, by the way. Meanwhile on the south coast, Spurs have beaten Brighton 2-0.

53 min: Cedric flips Diaz into the air near Arsenal’s left-hand corner flag. A chance for Alexander-Arnold to send a free kick into a loaded box. Ramsdale claims easily. This is breathless end-to-end stuff.

51 min: Partey has a bash from distance. The ball smacks off Van Dijk. Arsenal want a penalty. They’re not getting one. Thiago then tries to tidy up, only to play a dreadful backpass that lets Lacazette in. Lacazette can’t round Alisson, so he lays back for Odegaard, who sends a fierce shot goalwards. Alisson pops back into view, sticking out a strong arm to deflect over. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.

49 min: Martinelli rips past Alexander-Arnold and Henderson with some sensational skill on the left, a dropped shoulder, a nutmeg, then a dragback along the byline. Wow! He can’t find a team-mate with his low cross, which is such a shame, because that would have been an assist for the ages.

47 min: Now it’s Alexander-Arnold raking one down the same channel. Jota can’t quite trap and sprint clear. But these attacks, combined with the Mane chance late in the first half, will have given Arsenal something to think about.

46 min: Less than a minute in, Henderson, quarterbacking from deep, pings a pass down the inside-left channel to release Mane, who lashes past Ramsdale. But the flag goes up for offside. No goal, but an early sign that Liverpool have been ordered to step it up a bit.

Arsenal get the second half started … but only after taking their sweet time to emerge from the tunnel. Liverpool were kept waiting for a couple of minutes in the pouring rain. Or did Jurgen Klopp send his players out early by way of punishment, a flea in their ear? Hmm. Neither team have made a change.

Half-time entertainment. Arsenal look to be heading in the right direction under Mikel Arteta, their rebuild going swimmingly after a rocky few years. In other news…

The game has been pretty much non-stop, and there’s no added time. Arsenal traipse off the happier. Manchester City won’t mind this either.

45 min: … but it’s Liverpool who nearly score before the break. Alexander-Arnold lashes a long bouncing bomb down the middle to find Mane just ahead of White. Mane, under intense pressure, leans back on the edge of the box and blazes over.

44 min: Tierney crosses from the left. Fabinho tidies up. Arsenal are pressing hard for the first-half goal their efforts deserve.

42 min: Ramsdale claims the corner and launches long. Alisson comes racing out of his box and high-kicks it back upfield. Strong rugby-union vibes here.

41 min: Henderson, Diaz and Alexander-Arnold triangulate crisply down the right. A cross is whipped in. Jota launches himself at the ball with a view to Keith Houchening one home, but Arsenal half-clear. Alexander-Arnold tries again, crossing deep this time, forcing Cedric into conceding a corner on the left.

39 min: Diaz tries to break down the right, but he’s got nobody up with him and is forced to turn tail. Arsenal are well in control here, albeit without any tangible reward for their good work.

37 min: Martinelli glides infield from the left, leaving Alexander-Arnold in the dust. Liverpool swarm the young Brazilian before he can get a shot away, but Arsenal are oozing confidence right now. Five wins in a row tends to give you that.

36 min: Cedric nicks the ball off Mane. Klopp thinks he’s come through the back of his player, incorrectly so, and engages the fourth official in philosophical debate. He’s not happy, though his team are very much second best right now and won’t be helping his mood.