On the Whistle: Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal - "Centre-backs shine, Gunners top at Christmas!"

Hello guys, full time at Anfield, Liverpool 1, Arsenal 1 and I will absolutely take that. It keeps Arsenal top of the league for Christmas, for a second year in succession. Listen, I'm a happy man, I love this time of year and I love it all the more with Arsenal sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League. I've been a bit wound up to be honest by the fact that the TV commentary was so focused, we had the Sky commentary obviously here in the UK, on oh it's a good result for City, Man City will be happy, are Man City the real winners this weekend? Well no, there wasn't a winner in the game, but in the situation, Arsenal are the winners. You know, they've gone away from home, bear in mind they've lost their last game on the road at Villa Park, to Liverpool, Anfield, arguably the toughest ground to go to in the Premier League in terms of the quality of the team and the atmosphere combined together, where Arsenal historically have a dreadful record and they've got themselves a draw, they've got themselves a that keeps Liverpool just at arm's length and extends their lead over Man City obviously because they haven't played this weekend and keeps them top of the table. Arsenal are the winners of the weekend. I think almost any Arsenal fan, while they would have known there was a possibility Arsenal could win this game, would have taken this situation. I think Michael Arteta would have taken this situation. You see the way he embraced his staff at full time, I think that was as much about sending a message, about saying we're happy with this because we're in control and that's the key word of this season, right, control, and this was a more controlled performance at Anfield. We've had games there in recent years where we've required heroics from a goalkeeper, I thought Rye played well today but he wasn't under the kind of pressure that Aaron Ramsdale has faced in that atmosphere on previous occasions and I think that's a compliment to the performance of the team, particularly the performance of the two centre-halves. Sky gave man of the match to Saliba, fair enough, he was very good. I actually would have given it to Gabriel. I thought Gabriel was outstanding today, I thought he was brilliant against Brighton and from the very start of this game he was winning balls in his own penalty box, defending that 18-yard box superbly. Maybe it's because I feel as well Saliba gets a lot of plaudits and Gabriel doesn't get quite as many. I just thought he was sensational today, maybe particularly because he's playing on that left-hand side and Zinchenko had his troubles, he had his difficulties and yet Gabriel covered that whole flank superbly. Arsenal started really well as they did in this fixture last season, got the early goal, might have had a goal before that frankly, the way they flew out the blocks. There was a real hunger and confidence about the way Arsenal played and rightly so because the performance against Brighton was scintillating. They get the goal from a set-piece, it's Gabriel who gets it, another contributing factor to why I would have given him man of the match. I thought what everything Arsenal did in the first 20 minutes of the game was really impressive. We were really brave in the press, intelligent in the press, direct with our passing, playing through lines. Loved it, I really enjoyed it. Liverpool obviously grew into the half a little bit and Zinchenko was the weak area of the team, that is the side of his game where he's not so strong and Zinchenko against Salah is a bit of a mismatch and so it proved on the goal. Really good long pass, great play from Salah, unbelievable finish. Could Zinchenko have done better? Maybe. But Arsenal do have, to be fair to Mikhail Arteta and Edu, they've built a squad with two alternatives for that position. Tommy Assu obviously if he was fit I think would have played and Jurrien Timber if he was fit probably would have played in this one. Arsenal were without two players through injury. In the case of Tommy Assu, maybe you could have seen that coming because he's had injury problems in the past. In the case of Timber, it's pure bad luck. So I don't really have any gripes about the fact Zinchenko played this game. He was probably the third choice to do so and I think given that he did all right. He had his moments but he stuck at it and I think lesser players, lesser characters would have shrunk, would have been brought off. He played through. I think that tells you that Arteta has concerns about Kivijor as a left-back potentially in that situation as well, up against Salah. I think the quick foot work for a guy who's used to being at centre-half would have been tricky and maybe doesn't want to expose him in that way. But Zinchenko, he stabilised in the game and he never, ever, ever lost confidence and that's him for you all over. Sometimes he can be overconfident I think but he has got that enormous reserve of self-belief to call upon. Would Mikhail Arteta have started him in his ideal world? I don't think so. But it's a great goal from Salah and they have players I think in Trent and in Salah who have astonishing individual quality. Individual quality that is good enough to win games almost alone. I love our play. I love our collective play. I don't know if we have anyone in that kind of Salah category but there are only probably half a dozen of those players in the world and having him doesn't guarantee you win anything. Liverpool have come close plenty of times but is it just the one Premier League with Salah in their ranks? So an important facet to winning the league is having a good collective game and Arsenal certainly have that. Listen, there were some fine margins today. I thought Odegaard should have had a penalty given against him, I have to say. We're all quick to point out when refereeing decisions and VAR decisions don't go in our favour. I think that was one that absolutely did. I think if it was an Arsenal appeal for a Liverpool handball I would be losing my mind at that. To me that is a handball all day long. So I thought we got away with one there. We certainly got away with one on the counter-attack when Odegaard and Zinchenko kind of almost put each other off and it was about six Liverpool players up against Declan Rice, which I don't know, let's call it fair, and then Trent smashes the ball against the bar. Probably didn't need to put that kind of power in the finish but he did so we'll take it. We had moments at the other end I thought, listen, I thought Trossard came on and did well, Eddie came on and did pretty well, made some important defensive contributions, Saka was constantly a threat, his battle with Simicas was quite spiky. I think there was a bit of aggro between them. The battle with Jones was good as well because obviously, right-footed player on the left, Saka wants to go inside but I thought Saka had the better of him just and might have created a goal. One or two times in the match where we were on our heels in the penalty box, maybe could have gotten the end of some of those balls across. I thought Declan Rice was outstanding again. I've spoken about the centre-halves. Full backs, it's really tough at Anfield. I do think it's a tough game for a full back at Anfield and I think there's a very good possibility that if Tomiasu and Timber were fit, they both would have started this game. Given that, I thought White and Sinchenko did okay. Havertz, very good again. Martinelli, I thought in the first half, so brilliant. The courageous, dribbling, carrying the ball, a constant threat. I just thought he really tired but as I say, I thought Trossard came on and did well. Listen, it's a really good point. It's a really good point. I think I'm really happy with that. We lose Havertz to a suspension for the next game, home to West Ham, five bookings. But yeah, feel good about that, feel good about that and that'll be a big game for Declan Rice. Obviously, he'll be furious about the way it went for him when he came on there in the Carabao Cup. He'll be determined to put it right at the Emirates Stadium. I'm just before I go going to finish by saying thank you all for watching the videos. Merry Christmas to you. Whether you celebrate Christmas or if not, just have a wonderful festive period and have some good time off with the family. That's what I'm going to hopefully be doing. As I say, we'll be doing an Ask Cast Extra tomorrow and then kicking back and hanging out with the missus and the baby. Can't wait. And yeah, sending lots of love to you. It's a lovely time of year and made all the more so by Arsenal being top of the league. I'll take it and I'll see you next time. Cheers, guys. Bye-bye.