Arsenal and Liverpool contested a thrilling 2-2 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday to leave the Premier League title battle finely poised.
The Gunners twice took the lead through Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino, and were twice pegged back by Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, as the visitors came away from north London with a deserved point.
Here, Express Sport takes you through how each Arsenal player performed in a true Sunday afternoon blockbuster…
Arsenal player ratings vs Liverpool (4-2-3-1)
David Raya – 6
Made a mess in possession early on and, in a panic, kicked the ball out for a throw-in. Restored some credit with a couple of saves which you would expect him to make.
Thomas Partey – 8
The central midfielder did brilliantly well at right-back in a tough assignment against Luis Diaz. Partey was effective with his tackling and cool in possession.
Ben White – 7
Sublime ball upfield to assist Saka for Arsenal’s first goal, on what was generally a solid outing for White, who reverted to centre-back to cover for the suspended William Saliba.
Gabriel – 6 (Kiwior, 54)
Had very little to do against Darwin Nunez before being subbed off injured eight minutes into the second half, which is a big worry for Mikel Arteta.
Jurrien Timber – 6 (Lewis-Skelly, 76)
A couple of scruffy moments but otherwise did reasonably well at left-back, against Liverpool’s primary dangerman Mohamed Salah. Timber added to Arsenal’s injury nightmare by slumping to the turf with 15 minutes to play.
Mikel Merino – 5
Not the best showing from Merino despite his goal. He gave the ball away with a terrible short pass early on, but Salah’s subsequent shot from distance sailed wide. Merino should also have converted a brilliant Declan Rice free-kick, before partially making up for it by turning in another great delivery from Rice later in the game for his first Arsenal goal.
Declan Rice – 8
A passing exhibition from the Arsenal midfielder, who whipped in two brilliant set-pieces – one of which was finished off by Merino – and pinged a beautiful cross-field ball over to Gabriel Martinelli.
Bukayo Saka – 8 (Jesus, 85)
Brilliantly skinned Andrew Robertson and lashed in at the near post for Arsenal’s opening goal. He had the beating of the Liverpool left-back all game and constantly posed a threat with his confident runs.
Leandro Trossard – 6
Did his best to get on the ball in an advanced midfield position but never produced a magical moment.
Gabriel Martinelli – 5 (Nwaneri, 85)
Blazed over a decent chance after Timber laid the ball off, and made a real mess of an Arsenal break on the hour mark. It wasn’t all bad from the Brazilian, but he by no means brought his best to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Kai Havertz – 4
Should never have been beaten by Luis Diaz at the near-post for Virgil van Dijk’s goal which made it 1-1. Havertz also missed a handful of chances varying in quality, and wasted a brilliant cross by not being set when the ball landed squarely on his forehead.
SUBS
Jakub Kiwior – 6
Held down the fort respectably after coming on for the injured Gabriel.
Myles Lewis-Skelly – N/A
A late addition.
Ethan Nwaneri – N/A
A late addition.
Gabriel Jesus – N/A
A late addition.
