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Football Rampant reds too much for Arsenal

Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal

by James Nalton

at Anfield

An endless wave of attacking play saw Liverpool defeat Arsenal with ease at Anfield yesterday. 

Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Daniel Sturridge were the names on the scoresheet, but this was a clinical, relentless performance from Klopp’s team.

Arsenal had no answer to their opposition’s speed, power and work rate, and Arsene Wenger will be glad to get this game over with, having now lost his last three league meetings against Liverpool.

The home side wore Owen McVeigh Foundation T-shirts for their warm-up ahead of this high-profile fixture. The shirt paid tribute to the memory of Owen McVeigh, an ardent Red who was a regular at home and away games, but tragically died aged 11, shortly after being diagnosed with leukaemia in December 2015.

Their design reflected that of a flag dedicated to Owen in the Kop, which Jordan Henderson says he always notices when walking onto the Anfield turf.

“All the flags in the Kop are incredible, but there’s one that really catches my eye,” said Henderson, the Liverpool captain, in his pre-match programme notes. 

“It features a dad holding his son’s hand and carries the words: ‘It’s off to the match we go.’ The image is eye-catching, but the meaning behind the banner is why it means so much.”

Henderson said the array of flags on show in the Kop, organised by the Spion Kop 1906 group, help the team pull together with the fans and supporters during games at Anfield. 

And Liverpool started in this vein with some great interplay, particularly involving Firmino and Emre Can. Salah had a good chance at the far post which served as a warning sign for Arsenal, but they were powerless to stop Firmino getting on the end of Joe Gomez’s precise left footed cross from the right.

Henderson missed an opportunity to make it two shortly after while Salah also tested Cech. Mane volleyed just wide but made no mistake with his second chance, receiving the ball from Firmino before darting inside and unleashing a venomous shot into the far corner.

It was a frenetic, Liverpool-dominated 45-minutes, and the second half was no different. An early chance for Salah was saved by Cech, but the Egyptian sprinted the length of the pitch to score from an Arsenal corner shortly after. Substitute Sturridge rounded off the display, putting in Salah’s cross at the far post. 

It was all getting a bit embarrassing for Arsenal who have plenty of work to do if they’re to bounce back.

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