Summary
Plenty for both managers to ponder after a relentless contest that showcased the abilities, and fragility, of both sides. Liverpool showed just what they’re capable of in a breathtaking spell after half-time, with Philippe Coutinho front and centre.
Arsenal fans’ rancour will have been partially salved by their late fightback – and there’s no need to panic yet. They were the better side until Coutinho’s brilliant equaliser – and maybe Wenger will be persuaded to hold his nose and dive back into the transfer market.
This was a game that was great value right from the start, with brilliance and blundering in equal measure throughout. It’s what the Premier League is all about. Thanks for joining me. Bye!
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14 goals in seven games yesterday; 11 in two today. That’s why they call it Super Sunday, right?
Full time: Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool
That’s it! After a helter-skelter game, Liverpool were left hanging on – but they deserved the victory after tearing their hosts apart in a frightening second-half spell.
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94 mins: Can picks out Origi with a through ball, but the Belgian is offside. One last chance for Arsenal, Cazorla waiting for his moment, but firing a low cross off Monreal’s back. Wenger is putting his coat on...
93 mins: Liverpool break, and Origi rolls the ball across the area for Henderson, whose pot shot is deflected over. They have a corner, but Xhaka wrestles possession back.
92 mins: Arsenal ping passes around, Xhaka moving to the right and picking out Walcott, but – there’s no kind way of saying this – he falls over the ball.
91 mins: Cazorla’s cross is headed away by Klavan, with Mignolet coming out to collect. Four more minutes, with Liverpool sitting back now. Hang onto your hats...
90 mins: Arsenal labour into the Liverpool half, but Stewart punts the ball clear. Five added minutes.
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88 mins: Origi wins a cheap corner as Liverpool try to suck the life from this game. Arsenal can’t get anything going, but they might only need one chance.
87 mins: Kevin Stewart, once of Tottenham, comes on in place of Georginio Wijnaldum, who has enjoyed a fruitful debut, playing a part in the second and third goals.
86 mins: Xhaka appears to be a no-nonsense acquisition; he sends Mané flying to end a counter-attack, and is rightly cautioned.
84 mins: Liverpool are unsure whether to stick or twist, but keep the ball well. They can’t help themselves though, and launch another attack, Firmino’s fierce shot deflected into the side netting.
82 mins: Arsenal have been strangely reluctant to attack Moreno, but Bellerin gets forward to test the left-back, and finds a first-time cross that had Lovren heading nervously behind. Mignolet gets a fist to the corner, and another Xhaka foul eases the pressure.
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80 mins: Xhaka makes his mark with an agricultural challenge, ending the latest Arsenal attack. Origi helps Liverpool to hold the ball in enemy territory, picking out Firmino, who can’t quite return the favour with a lofted cross.
78 mins: What a ridiculous game this has been. Arsenal failed miserably to stop Liverpool’s second-half charge – can Liverpool hold off the fightback?
76 mins: With Liverpool pegged back since Coutinho’s departure, Klopp brings on Origi in place of Lallana. Over the tannoy, a call is made for any central defenders in the ground to make themselves known.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool (Chambers)
Hang on a minute... Cazorla delivers an excellent, curling cross, and with Mignolet rooted to the spot, Chambers flicks the ball into the corner!
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74 mins: Coquelin draws a foul from Clyne, and Cazorla will whip the free kick in...
71 mins: Weirdly, there’s still time for Arsenal to get something from this game, having slumped from 1-0 up to 4-1 down in around quarter of an hour. Santi Cazorla takes aim from 25 yards out, but fires over the bar.
“Arsenal are playing exactly the right way to be beaten by a Klopp team” says Ruth Purdue. “Leaving lots of space for a counter attack. It shouldn’t be a surprise at how he likes to play!”
True enough; this brings to mind Liverpool’s away win at Manchester City last season, where they were excellent, but got more than a helping hand.
“Don’t you think the series of games before the transfer window closes should be referred to as the ‘panic period’?” asks Matthew Carpenter-Arevalo.
Teams be like, “Oh no, we totally forgot about Alberto Moreno!” or, “Oh no, we forgot we’re Arsenal. Again!”
67 mins: Coutinho goes down in curious fashion, stumbling over having been set free by Firmino. It looks like a pulled muscle, or perhaps just a bout of cramp. It is the opening game. Emre Can is set to replace him.
65 mins: Just before Mané struck, Ramsey limped off with a hamstring injury, adding to the feelgood vibes around the Emirates. Cazorla is on in his place, while Elneny is replaced by big summer signing Granit Xhaka.
Two strangely similar goals: Mané collected a Lallana pass, toyed with Monreal and Chambers, miles out of position, on the right, cut inside and fired into the top corner.
Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up the ball on the left, toyed with Clyne and Lovren, miles out of position, cut inside and fired underneath Mignolet, spoiling the symmetry.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-4 Liverpool (Oxlade-Chamberlain)
I’ll tell you about it in a minute – Arsenal have pulled one back! That 4-4 could be on...
GOAL! Arsenal 1-4 Liverpool (Mané)
This is getting very ugly for Arsenal, but this is a beauty from Mané on his Liverpool debut.
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59 mins: It’s easy to say with hindsight, but this is a very big stage for Rob Holding to make his debut. He and Chambers have allowed Coutinho unrestricted access to the penalty area in this second half. Sub for Arsenal: Oxlade-Chamberlain on, Iwobi (Arsenal’s best attacking player), off.
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57 mins: Should have been four. Firmino twisting Chambers’ blood and picking out Coutinho, unmarked in the middle. His shot is parried by Cech, and Lallana toe-pokes the rebound wide. Arsenal have gone to pieces.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-3 Liverpool (Coutinho)
Liverpool dominate possession before Wijnaldum makes another telling contribution, picking out Clyne, who squares it low across goal. Coutinho races into the box, tucks the ball past Cech, and they’re two goals clear!
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54 mins: Liverpool are oozing confidence, and pushing Arsenal deeper with probing passes. Coutinho, more central than in the first half, has disrupted Coquelin and Elneny to great effect...
53 mins: Coutinho had contributed a sum total of nothing until that free kick; now he’s scored one, and effectively made another. Quality, not quantity.
51 mins: Arsenal were firmly on top for 44 minutes, and now they’re behind. Iwobi, at the heart of most Arsenal attacks, finds Ramsey, but he gives the ball away, and we have our first angry murmurs of the day from the Emirates crowd.
Liverpool motored through the gears there, to leave the Emirates stunned. Coutinho sliced open the defence with an exceptional flicked through ball to Wijnaldum, who picks out Lallana in the middle. The England midfielder brings the ball down, cuts to the right of goal, and fires under Cech as he steps off his line.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool (Lallana)
Liverpool are ahead, with a fantastic team goal!
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47 mins: A gentle pace to the opening exchanges, although Monreal plays with fire by challenging Wijnaldum on the edge of his own area. No free kick given, though.
Peep!
We’re off. No changes. Moreno is still on, and was booked when giving away the penalty, setting things up nicely.
Your half-time thoughts
“To sum Alberto Moreno up: ‘Sorry lads, it’s been nice knowing me’. I think Jürgen will have finally had enough” says Steve Devenish.
“It would be easy to characterise Walcott’s two minutes there as being a microcosm of the last two of his seasons as a whole. MEANNESS ALERT: except that he scored” says Charles Antaki.
“Hats off to Abdullah Al-Rashidi: It’s been a while since that kind of medal-winning marksmanship has been seen in an Arsenal shirt!” Justin Kavanagh isn’t afraid to pick the low-hanging fruit.
The Coutinho free kick just gets better on every replay. It reminds me of that Dmitri Payet effort last season, dropping out of the air at the last moment in that same supernatural fashion.
@niallmcveigh Greetings from a campsite in France where half the residents are Liverpool fans
— krish kandiah (@krishk) August 14, 2016
dodgy WiFi so we're hanging on your every word
No pressure, then. One-all, Coutinho good, Moreno bad. Pass it on.
Half time: Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool
Arsenal will wonder how they’ve gone in level, as with Liverpool. No prizes for the defending so far, but it’s been great to watch.
The finest goal of the opening weekend so far, after Coutinho won a free kick, Holding, well, holding him outside the area. Incredible precision was still required to beat Cech from that distance, but he delivered – his shot swerving over the wall and into the top corner.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool (Coutinho)
Liverpool are level, as Coutinho strikes a beautiful free kick that darts into Cech’s top-right corner!
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45 mins: Two minutes of added time, with Arsenal prepared to sit back and see out the half. Coquelin and Elneny have been excellent, working hard to protect the centre backs. Liverpool win a soft free kick though, and will have a chance from 30 yards, centrally placed...
43 mins: Lallana is dispossessed again in midfield, and Iwobi charges forward – and buys a free kick, going down under a non-existent Henderson challenge. Sanchez’s effort deflects wide, and from the corner, Chambers nods a half-chance wide of the near post.
42 mins: Liverpool have upped the tempo in the last five minutes, with Coutinho motoring down the left and curling a cross towards Firmino, but Cech steps out to smother it.
40 mins: This game does feel very early-season; it’s almost like a friendly, with so much space behind both defences. Lallana gets to the byline but tries a backheel that finds, and impresses, nobody. At the other end, Dejan Lovren is booked for the latest clumsy Liverpool tackle.
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38 mins: A chance for Liverpool, from a careless Chambers mistake – presenting the ball to Mané, who works it to Coutinho on the left of the area. His cut back to Wijnaldum is probably the wrong choice, and he can only fire a low shot that Cech saves with ease.
36 mins: Coquelin picks up a booking for a hefty challenge, but given that it was his challenge on Lallana that set up the goal, he may carry on regardless. Monreal almost picks out Sanchez, given the freedom of the Liverpool half, but his through ball is overhit.
33 mins: Moreno has had a dreadful start, with Coutinho now dropping back to help him get his bearings. Alex Iwobi, far more assured, almost connects with Walcott again, lifting the ball over the Liverpool left-back, who is totally out of position.
Hat-tip to Richard Fahey for pointing this out; Olympic shooter Abdullah Al-Rashidi, unable to represent Kuwait, wore an Arsenal top instead and won bronze – narrowly missing out on fourth place.
Liverpool try to head upfield, but Lallana is dispossessed by Coquelin, who sets up Iwobi. His angled pass finds Walcott, with Moreno nowhere to be seen, and this time, he finds the net, rolling the ball inside the far post.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Liverpool (Walcott)
A busy five minutes for Theo Walcott.
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Walcott misses the penalty!
Theo, Theo, Theo. It’s to Mignolet’s right, perfect height, lacking conviction. The goalkeeper palms it away!
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Penalty to Arsenal!
... a long ball lands at Walcott’s feet, and despite dodgy control, he moves into the area – and is upended by Moreno, who gets a fraction of the ball, and a whole lot of the man. An oafish foul, a booking, and a chance for Walcott from the spot...
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27 mins: Plenty of feisty challenges flying in from Liverpool, with Mané conceding in the Arsenal half. Arsenal break forward...
25 mins: Lallana is booked for a foul on Ramsey that’s clumsy, to say the least.
23 mins: Arsenal do look vulnerable when Liverpool break forward, and moments after Bellerín is forced to deny Firmino with a last-ditch tackle, the Brazilian sees his shot deflected across goal.
Walcott gives away a free kick on the left, and again it’s played across the area, where Arsenal are looking increasingly shaky – but it’s scrambled clear.
21 mins: Ramsey picks up the ball with Mignolet off his line, and attempts an audacious lob from forty yards. It sails high and wide, and Walcott, having made a quick supporting run, isn’t happy. He had drifted offside, though.
“Chambers has looked short of presence and confidence in the past at times” says Bill Hargreaves. “Maybe Wenger thinks playing him alongside an even younger centre-back might give him a boost?”
The Arsenal manager said as much beforehand, and despite Liverpool focusing that narrow front three on Chambers and Holding, he has coped well so far.
19 mins: Moreno is caught out by a one-two between Walcott and Sanchez, who is posing a threat with his movement from his centre-forward starting point. The Chilean’s lofted return pass is just too strong for Walcott, though.
18 mins: Mané sparks into life, cutting in at speed from the right, exchanging passes with Coutinho before losing steam, the move ending with a half-hearted handball appeal. The new arrival looks the most likely to make an impact for the visitors so far.
17 mins: Elneny dallies on the ball, but Firmino, already looking frustrated, hacks him down, and is fortunate to escape a booking.
15 mins: Ramsey finds acres of space in the Liverpool area, but is denied by a tackle from Moreno that, while effective, was reckless – both feet off the ground, and he was fortunate to avoid bringing Ramsey down.
13 mins: A first mass foray forward for Liverpool, with Nathaniel Clyne testing Cech’s reflexes with a low shot from outside the area.
Zachary Gomperts-Mitchelson, I’m sure you’re not alone:
My final thought of last season was to completely ignore all club football this summer So, this morning when my phone reminded me the season was starting my first thought was, ah these bastards again.
Wonderful summer of sport it’s been, with the Tour de France and the Olympics. As you might be able to tell, I am not looking forward to what is hopefully the last occurrence of Arsène Wenger’s grand experiment to have the same disappointing season 10 years in a row.
Still, up the Arsenal and all that. Welcome back football.
10 mins: Firmino, leading the line for Liverpool today, drifts out to the right but miscues his cross, under pressure from Monreal.
8 mins: There’s a spell of head tennis, before Arsenal get the ball down once again, and start stringing passes together.
Wenger preaching the need for stability has too often been undone by dreadful starts in recent years, but they’ve found a rhythm already here.
7 mins: More pressure down the left from Arsenal, before Iwobi finds Sanchez with a penetrating pass. He cuts back into the path of Ramsey, who can’t quite adjust his feet, and prods the ball into Mignolet’s arms.
5 mins: Liverpool are bound to pose a threat on the break, and Clyne feeds the ball through to Mané – but Chambers does well to close him down. We’ve started at a fair old whip.
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3 mins: Arsenal start brightly, with both full-backs pushing forward, and Monreal forcing a corner from a low cross. It’s cleared away before Mignolet clutches the ball as it’s heaved back into the box.
2 mins: Mané makes an early, darting run behind, but is whistled for offside after the assistant misses a straightforward call. At the other end, Mignolet tests the away fans’ nerves with a couple of stepovers.
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1 min: Bellerín looks for Iwobi along the right touchline, but his pass wafts out of play. Arsenal are in red and white; Liverpool are decked out all in black.
Peep!
Michael Oliver gets us up and running.
‘Holding Chambers’ at least has a vaguely menacing feel – like the darkest corner of a dystopian prison complex.
All the best on your debut, @RobHolding95 #AFCvLFC pic.twitter.com/5hQE2HJyw7
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) August 14, 2016
Five minutes! Predictions? I’ll plump for a score draw: 2-2.
On Wijnaldum, I’m still unsure if he’s a forward, or a midfielder that doesn’t bother tracking back. He was excellent on occasions for Newcastle in a patchy season. As he did at Newcastle, he’s taken 5 as his squad number, which should carry an automatic two-match ban.
“Last season Liverpool’s midfield was rather prosaic, but only Henderson survives from that slightly odd tasting vintage. Have no clue what Wijnaldum can do there as I thought he was a winger/striker. But the only option Liverpool have is to attack with this line up. 4-4!”
Four-four, Ian? Arsenal and Liverpool? Come off it...
The managers speak!
Arsène Wenger: “It’s a big test for our first game, because Liverpool had a good pre-season. It’s up to us to defend well together.”
Is he concerned about that makeshift defence? “By a lack of games, but not the individual quality.”
Klopp: “Today is a very important… the most important of the pre-season until now.” Do you want to tell him, or shall I?
“Arsenal are an intelligent team, but their greatest strength is offensive – so we have to be offensive too. In this moment, everything is possible, so it’s nice.”
“With Liverpool not starting any strikers and Arsenal light on centre backs, are we about to find out what happens when a resistible force meets a movable object?” asks Phil Penton.
How about that Arsenal team? Granit Xhaka starts on the bench, with Coquelin and Elneny maintaining their midfield partnership – but behind them, it’s Rob Holding and Calum Chambers in the heart of defence.
Liverpool go with a line up that looks attacking, despite the lack of an out-and-out centre forward; Lallana, Firmino and Coutinho all start, as do summer signings Mané and Wijnaldum. At the back, bargain buy Ragnar Klavan starts, with Joël Matip only fit enough for the bench.
Team news:
Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Holding, Chambers, Monreal; Elneny, Coquelin; Walcott, Ramsey, Iwobi; Sanchez.
Subs: Gibbs, Wilshere, Ospina, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Xhaka, Akpom.
Liverpool: Mignolet; Clyne, Lovren, Klavan, Moreno; Lallana, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Mane, Firmino, Coutinho.
Subs: Manninger, Grujic, Can, Origi, Matip, Stewart, Alexander-Arnold.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
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Preamble
The Premier League has hit the ground running with a flurry of closely-fought contests, and the opening weekend’s headline act appears especially hard to call. One thing we can expect is entertainment; this fixture rarely disappoints, both teams’ propensity for attacking flair and tarsal ballistics adding up to fun, fun, fun – even in last August’s goalless draw.
Arsenal and Liverpool collide with both sides unsure of their status in this year’s Premier League pile-up. Last season, Arsenal finished second to champions that have retired early, and have bought a very good player in an understaffed position. Granit Xhaka and young Bolton defender Rob Holding aside, Arsène Wenger has kept the contactless card in his pocket, and other weak spots are yet to be addressed. Holding, Calum Chambers, Nacho Monreal and Francis Coquelin are among the names in the frame to start at centre-back today, with Alexis Sánchez set to scurry around up front.
By contrast, Liverpool’s season was better in the mind’s eye than it now looks on paper. A thrilling European run, and a clutch of stellar performances, only yielded two cup final defeats and an eighth-placed finish. Like Arsenal, the ultimate aim is the title, as always – but the great Guardian aggregator, for one, doesn’t predict a top four finish for either team. Unlike Arsenal, Jürgen Klopp’s team have been busy in the transfer market, but headline signings Sadio Mané and Gigi Wijnaldum are unlikely to dispel concerns that the squad remains overstuffed with good, but not great, players.
All of which leaves us with an absurdly early big game that could go either way, where the result could set the tone for the rest of August and beyond. If they’re being honest, a leisurely score draw would suit both teams nicely; history suggests that’s the last thing that will happen. Kick-off is at 4pm BST; don’t go anywhere.
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