Mikel Arteta attributed Arsenal’s place at the Premier League summit to increased courage, belief and maturity after they emerged from “one of the most intense games I’ve witnessed in 20 years” with a point at Liverpool.
Arsenal will top the table at Christmas for the second year running having held Jürgen Klopp’s contenders to a deserved 1-1 draw at Anfield, where the Liverpool defender Kostas Tsimikas sustained a broken collarbone. Gabriel Magalhães headed the visitors into an early lead before Mohamed Salah equalised in stunning style. Trent Alexander‑Arnold could have put Liverpool top with a great chance late on but struck the bar.
The Arsenal manager said: “It was an unbelievable game of football, one of the most intense and hectic games I’ve witnessed in this league in 20 years. The quality and the intention of both teams was superb to watch. To witness our boys play at that level, to have the courage and belief to play at that level, I think they deserve big, big credit.”
Arsenal were ultimately hauled in by Manchester City in last season’s title race but Arteta believes his side have learned from that, and will improve. He added: “We have the experience of being where we are today. We should be really happy because that shows a lot consistency among this new group to do it in the biggest league in the world. But that’s it. We are where we want to be right now – both in the Premier League and the Champions League. We all deserve a beautiful dinner with our families tomorrow but then we are back on it because West Ham is going to be very tough again.
“Of course there are certain things we have to improve, especially killing games. With the amount of dominance we’re showing, sometimes the results have been too close and we’ve had to dig in to maintain results. But that’s it, nothing else.”
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Klopp was sent flying by Tsimikas when the Liverpool defender was pushed over in front of the technical area by Bukayo Saka. The Greece international was immediately taken to hospital. The Liverpool manager said: “I was too close to really see what happened, to be honest. The problem I had in that moment was I thought: ‘OK, I’m fine’, so I was assuming that Kostas was fine as well and he’s obviously not fine. He’s broken his collarbone at least. It’s really bad for us. I cannot say anything about that [the challenge from Saka]. You have to judge that, not me.”
Klopp, who also lost Luis Díaz to what he hopes is a minor knee problem, felt Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty for a handball by Martin Ødegaard when they were 1-0 down. He said: “I saw it after and I think we all agree it was handball but I always wait until Mr Dermot [Gallagher, on Sky Sports News] explains it the next day what’s really the case. He will find a way to explain to me why it was not handball. For me it’s a clear handball. I have no idea if it would have influenced the result.”
