Arteta and Slot earned a valuable point for Arsenal and Liverpool says Collymore. Photo by Maja Hitij/Julian Finney/Getty Images
Arsenal and Liverpool shared the points in a pulsating Premier League game at the weekend, and though they may have been disappointed not to have earned all three, Stan Collymore says it’s a valuable point for both nonetheless.
Neither side coming out on top allowed Pep Guardiola’s Man City to take advantage, and install themselves at the top of the table ahead of the next round of fixtures.
It was another game where the Gunners just couldn’t get over the line against a top team, but on this occasion they were missing captain, Martin Odegaard and excellent centre-back, William Saliba.
Collymore says Arsenal and Liverpool should look at the positives
They also had to cope with the injury to Gabriel during the match, meaning their first-choice centre-back pairing weren’t even on the pitch in the latter stages of a game where Bukayo Saka once again proved his worth.
Collymore thinks that both managers should accentuate the positives from the game.
“I don’t know the exact statistics on it, but you would say that Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola and Arne Slot might tell the dressing room that they’ll only be able to lose one or two games in the season if they want to win the title. That’s the reality of the situation,” he said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.
“So their respective clubs can either draw six or lose two, but not any more than that.
“It focuses the players minds so that they know that they’ve got to perform week in and week out, and that’s why you see lots of goals going in late. So, Arsenal score goals at home with players out, against a team that has the best defensive record in the country.
“Yes, they’ll be kind of disappointed, but I would imagine that on the chalkboard at Arsenal’s training ground that if they’re crunching the numbers, they’ll look at it and say for us to be champions, we’ve got to win one of the two games against City, or we’ve got to not be beaten by them at all – and I would imagine Liverpool are in that equation as well.
“Arsenal started off very well, as they seem to have done in the last seven or eight games against Liverpool, and I also thought that the Reds had chunks of the game, 10/15, minute spells, particularly in the second half, where they kept the ball and they created opportunities on the counter attack.
“Overall, I think that that’s a very good point for both teams and it instills confidence that they’re playing against the very best in the country, and being able to compete.
“I think that both managers were generally relaxed with the result and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they didn’t both chalk that one down as a point earned.”
