Arteta’s stale Starmer-ball is doomed to finish second to those who aim for glory | Barney Ronay

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You do have to actually show some sign of wanting to get it, to throw a little risk to the wind.

This seemed to be the catch for Mikel Arteta at Anfield, on a day where for long periods his Arsenal team were in the ascendancy, dishing up a performance that was assured and compact, but also a bit like watching a politician giving a campaign interview on live TV where the idea is to simply say nothing, wear the right tie, filibuster, convinced that if nothing happens then good things are probably happening.

Let the other guy lose.



Dominik Szoboszlai’s wonder strike sinks Arsenal and sends Liverpool topRead more

From the start Arsenal played in a way that said, well, it’s going to take something special to beat us today.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s execution for the only goal of the game was stunning, beautifully pure and also notable for its blatant lack of disguise.

Curtis Jones took the ball on the half turn and was fouled 32 yards out.

And this was also a great game for Arne Slot, whose repurposed right-back, the princely Szoboszlai, has now won a huge league game late on twice in a week.

Whereas for Arsenal that sense of a missed opportunity will linger, because there was more here for them than they ever tried to take.

Keep the zero with which you came into the game.

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But Arsenal also played well enough early on to create a sense of something more.

Liverpool always looked like the only team that was going to win from there.

It would still be unfair to call this a big chance missed.