Arsenal vs Liverpool was truly bizarre – Van Dijk and Alisson drop clangers, Triple H’s music blared out and the Reds look almost average
It would be fair to say the Premier League season has been a tumultuous roller coaster ever since ‘Project Restart’ was launched to bring football back to Britain.
Although Liverpool were claimed champions in June, Jurgen Klopp’s men appeared to have enjoyed themselves a bit too much since their coronation and it showed against Arsenal on Wednesday night.
The Gunners came from a goal down to claim a 2-1 victory at the Emirates thanks to goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Reiss Nelson after Sadio Mane’s opener.
Arsenal had already come close to gifting the Reds an opener as Roberto Firmino charged down an Emiliano Martinez clearance, with the ball bouncing off the base of a post.
Having been thumped by former champions Manchester City earlier this month (a game where Gary Neville joked Andy Robertson may still be inebriated) and held by Burnley, the teams in the Premier League will have been overjoyed to see the Reds looking so human.
Virgil van Dijk made his first and only mistake of the season when Nelson harried him on the edge of the box and got the ball to Lacazette so he could finish.
It was then Alisson’s turn to drop a clanger just moments later when his poor pass was intercepted by the French striker and it was his turn to find Nelson inside the box to calmly slot home his first ever Premier League goal.
After a truly bizarre first 45 minutes in a game which swirled uncontrollably at times, things got even weirder before the start of the second half.
Due to the lack of a crowd, the individual in charge of the PA system at the Emirates decided to try something a little different and be somewhat bold.
The entrance music for WWE legend Triple H is unlikely to feature in your average club classics collection, but it certainly has a motivational vibe – clearly helping Mikel Arteta’s side repel the champions.
Despite all of the crazy occurrences in north London, a semblance of normality was restored when Granit Xhaka grabbed his ninth booking of the season for a rather reckless and late lunge on Naby Keita.
Klopp is unlikely to have too many sleepless nights from this performance, although it could have been made more emphatic when Robertson decided to let a stray ball bounce for Joe Willock to connect with on the volley.
However, the manager will hopefully get the strains of Triple H’s walkout song out of his head, even if he does love a bit of heavy metal.