25/04 - 20:00
As the Premier League title drifts away from Liverpool and Arsenal continue to recover from being knocked out of the FA Cup at the weekend, the prospect of silverware this season for these two clubs has got slimmer.
An EFL Cup might not be the trophy that Klopp, nor Arteta, will one day cherish the most but it could be one that has huge significance to them this year.
That might be shown in Liverpool’s desperation to have the original first-leg, last week at the Emirates, postponed and Arsenal’s subsequent supposedly angry response to that decision.
This is a game with a controversial build-up that is expected to matter more than most EFL Cup semi-final first-legs…
THE MATCH
The hosts, as so often when they are playing a big cup match at Anfield, started quickly and out Arsenal under immediate pressure but nothing came of their early spells.
Calum Chambers would be an early sub for Arsenal, coming on in place of the injured Cedric Soares just after ten minutes.
There were no clear-cut chances for either side until Eddie Nketiah had his fairly tame shot saved by Alisson mid-way through the first-half. A chance that would cost The Gunners so much more than just a miss.
As Liverpool cleared, Diogo Jota found himself running in behind, in between the defensive line and Aaron Ramsdale. Without checking his shoulder, Granit Xhaka attempted to volley a clearance from over his head, not seeing Jota and essentially volleying the Portuguese forward in his midriff.
For the first time in 2022, second time this season and the fifth time since moving to Arsenal for £30 million from Borussia Monchengladbach, Xhaka was sent-off. His red card meant Arteta made his second change inside half-an-hour with Eddie Nketiah being replaced by Rob Holding - a signal of the visitors' intentions for the rest of the match.
The rest of the match followed a pattern and theme: Liverpool pushing, Liverpool dominating the ball and Arsenal resisting.
In the final 65 minutes of play, Liverpool dominated the possession and the shots. They ended up with 78% of the ball, had 14 shots and eight corners.
A golden opportunity did fall for Takumi Minamino. Around ten yards out, the Japanese international had an open goal to fire into but ended up skewing his effort over the ball whilst unbalanced. The absence of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah due to AFCON became even more evident.
Quite remarkably, though, Arsenal had more shots on target in their 22% and three shots. The visitors ended up holding on for a well-earned goalless draw and will host a winner-takes-all second-leg next week.
THE SUMMARY
Kick-off
24th min: Xhaka red
Half-time
Full-time
