The Carabao Cup semi-finals liverpool 0-0 Arsenal at home, which also left suspense for the next leg of the showdown, Arsenal's chances of qualifying increased, because the second leg Gunners will return home to face Klopp's team, as long as a small victory of 1 goal can send the opponent out, which is indeed a possible task. Arsenal's home record this season has been good, with 12 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat, the only defeat was in the second round of the league, Arsenal lost 2-0 at home to Chelsea, and it is indeed credible to be unbeaten at home.
Because Arsenal are hopeless in the league this season, the cup competition will also go all out. Liverpool were dumbfounded in this game, with only one shot on target in 27 shots on target, and Liverpool played one more person in the 24th minute, so it was indeed unconvincing to score a goal in this situation. Arsenal were more passive throughout the game, especially after Xhaka was sent off with a red card, with only three shots on goal and one shot on target, with a possession rate of 22% to 85%. The team is besieged by opponents, and it is inevitable that there will be no goals, but it is indeed valuable that Arsenal stubbornly drew liverpool in the end. In the past, Arsenal have always attacked strong and defended weakly, and the solidity of the defensive end of this game is also recognized.
The core players who started liverpool in this game are Henderson, Fabinho, Milner, Jota, Firmino, Chamberlain and Jones came off the bench and did not score, Klopp still despised Arsenal, and the team's dependence on Salah and Mane was also obvious. Now salah's contract extension is blocked, and once the player cannot be retained, the team's record cannot be guaranteed. When Liverpool could not score for a long time in this game, the only substitutes were Leno, Mali, Pattino, Salah Edin, Hutchinson and Bires, so the result of the impossible to reverse the draw was still better. Jota is actually capable, but this game is limited by Arsenal's defense, so it does not create an absolute threat.
Arsenal have a double-edged sword, the 29-year-old Xhaka is a relatively easy player to eat cards, he has received 116 yellow cards in 477 games in his career, of which 7 have received red cards, only 1 time two yellows have become one red, and the remaining 6 times have been direct red cards. In the 23rd minute of the game, Robertson launched a quick counterattack with a long pass, and when Xhaka was released, jota was brought down, and the referee directly showed a red card. At the beginning of the game, both teams were both in and out of danger, and arsenal had one less threat and more of a struggle to defend. It is worth mentioning that Arsenal also played in the League Cup, Thomas, Erne, Pepe, Aubameyang all played in the Africa Cup of Nations, Smith Ronaldo and Erdegaard also because of some circumstances, so Xhaka's unexpected red card caused the team to be more difficult.
The second leg of the two teams is due to start on January 21, and both sides need to prepare better. After this game, Liverpool have only won 2 of their last 5 matches, the record is 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, and the games lost are 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur, 0-1 Leicester City, 2-2 Chelsea, 0-0 Arsenal. Liverpool League Cup is also a penalty shootout to eliminate the Foxes, after entering the New Year, the team's record is 1 win and 2 draws, the team is only in the FA Cup game 4-1 weak Shrewsbury, Klopp if not changed, the subsequent games may also lose points.
Liverpool swept Arsenal 4-0 this season, but now it is 0-0 draw, it can be said that the team has problems attacking and defending, because the game against Chelsea is forced to draw after leading, the attack in this game has repeatedly threatened the goal but did not score, the shooting accuracy rate is surprisingly low, so the team's problems are indeed more than expected. This round of the league is a direct battle between Manchester City and Chelsea, if Liverpool can not defeat the weak brigade Brentford, the suspense of the league title will be reduced, because the current point difference between Liverpool and Manchester City has been widened by 11 points, even if it is a missing round, if the league loses again, it may not have a chance to narrow the point difference. Judging from the performance of several teams so far, Manchester City is the most offensive and defensive, and Liverpool's instability at key moments is also fatal.
Firmino is also one of the tridents, but the performance of the past two seasons is indeed difficult to compliment, this game from Robertson's pick pass, Firmino's header in the penalty area actually did not touch the ball, which is also too out of standard. Takumi Minamino's cross then created a danger, but he did not continue to threaten the opponent's goal. Although Jota created Xhaka's red card, he did not create an absolute threat in the subsequent matches.
Arsenal, Lacazette has missed three chances in succession, which really shouldn't be. In the second half, Firmino and Takumi Minamino connected, the latter shot was blocked, and then Robertson continued to create opportunities for Takumi Minamino, but unfortunately the latter's shot was deflected again, and the player was indeed embarrassed. Liverpool's failure to concede in this game is closely related to Alisson's return, otherwise he may have conceded the goal out of the game, because Arsenal still had several threats in the second half, and Saka also tried his best, and then was replaced by Tavarez due to injury. At the end of the game, Jota missed the opportunity, Takushi Minamino did not score, and the Liverpool double star was indeed depressed.
Teams in the Premier League have encountered a lot of difficulties this season, the impact of the injury epidemic, and now the African Cup of Nations has also made many core unable to play, so the next weekend in the league will need to avoid the possibility of losing points. Liverpool will next face the underdogs on Sunday and Arsenal will face Tottenham Hotspur away from home, a game that will also be difficult and Arsenal will need to sacrifice the strongest squad.