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Arsenal showed the resilience of champions as they left title rivals Liverpool with the point they needed to be the Premier League’s Christmas No1.
Mikel Arteta’s side were also top a year ago before falling away to finish runners-up against Manchester City – but the Spaniard believes this time could be different after surviving a hostile test at Anfield.
‘It was an unbelievable game. One of the most intense I’ve seen in 20 years,’ said the proud Gunners boss.
‘It shows a lot of consistency for this group to do it for two years. We are where we want to be in the league right now. We will have a beautiful family Christmas.
Arsenal ensured their place at the top of the table for Christmas after a draw with Liverpool
Afterwards, Mikel Arteta was quick to praise the resilience from his at Anfield
‘We have more experience than last year. In the last 20 minutes, we were willing to win it.
‘If we have to improve anywhere it is killing games with the dominance we are showing. That’s it, nothing else.’
The Kop was rocking after Jurgen Klopp’s gee-up for more noise and the roof nearly came off when Mo Salah cancelled out Gabriel’s early header.
Liverpool were denied a penalty when Martin Odegaard handled and Trent Alexander-Arnold hit the crossbar following a five-man breakaway but The Gunners dug in to move a point clear of Liverpool and Aston Villa at the top.
Last season, they threw away a 2-0 lead at Anfield in April to put the death knell on their title ambitions.
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Klopp is also certain Arsenal are genuine contenders. ‘Oh my god, how strong are they?’ he exclaimed.
‘We could have won, maybe should have won. Trent hitting the crossbar should have been a goal. It was two really good football teams. Super-intense.’
Klopp felt VAR should have instructed referee Chris Kavanagh to review his monitor in the first half when Odegaard fell onto the ball with his hand and Salah standing next to him appealed.
The Gunners are one point clear of Liverpool after the 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon
‘The penalty situation is a weird situation, I don’t know if the ref can see it, but you look at it and I’m not sure how you can say it’s not a penalty,’ said the Liverpool boss.
He was also sent tumbling at one point by his own player Kostas Tsimikas who fell into his manager after being challenged by Bukayo Saka. It was later confirmed that Tsimikas, who was deputising for Andy Robertson, has broken a collarbone leaving Liverpool without a senior left-back.
Arteta had compared playing at Anfield to being “in a washing machine” but his players avoided that dizzying feeling.
‘I would say 100% we are better defensively,’ said Saka. ‘Special shout out to our centre back pairing Willie [Saliba] and Gabbi [Gabriel]. I thought they were top.’
