Liverpool were at their scintillating best as they inflicted a crushing 5-1 defeat on Arsenal to go nine points clear atop of the Premier League table.
Jurgen Klopp’s men came from a goal down at Anfield and never looked back with Roberto Firmino registering a first hat-trick for the 18-time English champions.
Arsenal, who came into the game struggling for wins, couldn’t get a foothold and leading marksman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was often isolated and ex-footballer turned presenter summed up his evening with a damning statistic
“Liverpool were so dominant that Arsenal’s striker Aubameyang only had 13 touches before he was substituted, 6 of them were kick-offs,” he wrote on his official Twitter page.
Liverpool were so dominant that Arsenal’s striker Aubameyang only had 13 touches before he was substituted, 6 of them were kick-offs.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) December 29, 2018
Heading into the mouthwatering showdown the Gabonese striker had registered 13 goals across his opening 19 league outings this season.
However, the former Borussia Dortmund man never came close to troubling Alisson, despite the Brazilian goalkeeper conceding only his eighth goal of the season.
Outclassed
Ainsley Maitland-Niles initially put the Gunners in front but their lead was brief as Firmino struck twice in the space of 90 seconds.
Sadio Mane would make it three before Mohamed Salah doubled The Reds tally from the spot. In particular, Alisson’s pass to set up the Liverpool attack that resulted in their fourth goal of the evening against Arsenal drew praise from fans on social media.
Even former Arsenal striker Ian Wright could not help but applaud.
My Gosh the pass by Alisson’s to set up the penalty pic.twitter.com/71B71YPM8M
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) December 29, 2018
There was even a comparison to a certain Liverpool legend.
Alisson Becker is like a prime Gerrard with his long passing
— LFC News (@LFCTransferNRS) December 29, 2018
Pass of the season?
Firmino would then complete his hat-trick from 12 yards. It was his first for The Reds and the eighth goal he’s struck against Arsenal in eight meetings.
Championship-winning form?
Liverpool’s win over Arsenal stretched their winning run in the Premier League to nine matches ahead of their showdown with defending champions Manchester City on January 2nd.
During that run Klopp’s side have registered 24 goals and conceded just three with Jack Cork, Jesse Lingard and the aforementioned Maitland-Niles as the only players able to breach their impressive defence.
Across their opening Liverpool have picked up 17 wins and have only dropped six points (three draws) thus remaining the only Premier League side without tasting defeat so far this season.
Not yet the league’s highest scorers, that honour still belongs to Manchester City who have bagged 51 across 19 games, Liverpool nonetheless possess the meanest defence having only conceded just eight times.
The post Gary Lineker sums up Liverpool’s domination v Arsenal in one stat appeared first on Squawka News.
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