Arsenal will find themselves at the pinnacle of the Premier League this Christmas, having battled to a 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday evening.
With the simple requirement of avoiding defeat to solidify their position, Arsenal took an early lead as Gabriel headed in a free-kick from Martin Odegaard just three minutes into the game. However, Mohamed Salah’s equalizer in the first half brought the match back to equilibrium.
Although Trent Alexander-Arnold struck the crossbar in the energetic second half, both teams ultimately had to settle for a share of the points.
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The unfolding of the game saw Arsenal coming close to opening the scoring in the first minute, with Bukayo Saka’s cross causing chaos and Gabriel Jesus narrowly missing a deflected strike over the crossbar.
The breakthrough came three minutes later as Gabriel soared to head home Odegaard’s free-kick, surviving a tense VAR check before officially securing the opening goal.
While Liverpool dominated possession in their pursuit of an equalizer, Arsenal appeared more menacing, with Odegaard missing a chance from inside the box after some skillful play 20 minutes into the game.
Odegaard escaped a significant handball appeal against him as he slipped while defending Salah, making contact with the ball with his hand. Despite the incident, the referee did not make the call, and VAR opted not to intervene.
Liverpool, however, managed to level the score just before the half-hour mark when Alexander-Arnold delivered a splendid ball to Salah. The Egyptian forward cut inside Oleksandr Zinchenko and struck a shot into David Raya’s top corner.
Five minutes before halftime, Gabriel Martinelli missed an opportunity to score after Alisson came off his line to deny Saka in a one-on-one situation. Unfortunately, Martinelli failed to hit the target.
The intensity persisted after halftime, with substitute Joe Gomez nearly scoring a spectacular goal early on. Gomez curled a beautiful shot towards the goal but couldn’t guide the ball inside Raya’s far post.
Harvey Elliott’s effort narrowly missed the target, and Alexander-Arnold’s shot hit the crossbar in a four-on-one counter, but no further goals were scored as both Arsenal and Liverpool had to settle for a point.