EMIRATES STADIUM – Given that Jurgen Klopp was one of the biggest proponents of ditching the second legs of Carabao Cup semi-finals, there is little chance he will have seen the trip to the Emirates as a defining moment in Liverpool’s season. Yet for Mikel Arteta, whose Arsenal side have already been knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship opposition in the last month, this was another chance to offer some tangible evidence that they are heading in the right direction.
The proof, we are always told, is to be found in the youngsters. Gabriel Martinelli was one of the few whose inventive trickery caught Trent Alexander-Arnold out more than once, but the rest of a stale attack added credibility to the postponement of the north London derby. The recent injuries and the impact of Covid was apparent, but Arsenal’s problems run a little deeper.
There are basic fundamentals still lacking. While Fabinho was imperious, quashing Martinelli’s creativity with last-ditch tackles, Albert Sambi Lokonga continuously gave the ball away. Arsenal simply do not have a player like Fabinho in the middle – and that would have been true even had Granit Xhaka not been suspended courtesy of a red card in the first leg. Thomas Partey is back, thanks to Ghana’s early exit from the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), and was sent off in the 90th minute after making a late appearance from the bench.
Lokonga ought to have had a free rein, largely untroubled by 17-year-old Kaide Gordon in whom Klopp had placed a tremendous display of faith by handing him another opportunity after his debut goal against Shrewsbury Town.
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Nor did Arsenal exploit Liverpool’s other fringe players, Curtis Jones and Caoimhin Kelleher. Alexandre Lacazette, who was eventually withdrawn with a quarter of an hour left, squandered one of the better chances to test the 23-year-old goalkeeper, latching onto a ball over the top from Bukayo Saka but firing over without a moment’s composure. Martinelli would have been far better placed leading the line; there are still question marks over his final ball and he is not helped by having so little assistance. Tellingly, the closest he came to forcing Kelleher into action came from a speculative strike from 20 yards out.
This might have been immaterial, of course, had it not been for an uncharacteristic error from Aaron Ramsdale. Roberto Firmino started the counter-attack with a backheel and Alexander-Arnold, having wandered over to the halfway line in a position not dissimilar to where Gareth Southgate has tried to use him for England, sent Diogo Jota on his way.
There have been fears Liverpool would not cope without the pace of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane while they are at Afcon; it is usually Jota who allays them, racing past Takehiro Tomiyasu and taking a touch past Ben White before sliding the ball under Ramsdale, who should have got a hand to it. White was given no chance in a foot race with Jota for the second, overturned by a VAR check.
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Arteta might not lose sleep over any of this. He has already won an FA Cup, even if it was a few months into his reign and told us little about the club’s progress. Of more immediate concern is that Arsenal have not won since Boxing Day, and playing quite well for 45 minutes against Manchester City does not really count.
But the League Cup matters. Klopp might not quite believe it himself; the Liverpool fans singing of Wembley in an extended corner of the Emirates certainly do. It is a decade since the Reds lifted the trophy and they haven’t won an FA Cup since 2006. The juggernauts of the past decade, Manchester City and Chelsea have won the domestic cups a combined nine times in that period.
It is hard to shake the feeling, nonetheless, that a Wembley showpiece matters to Liverpool, but for a manager in serious need of memory-making, it would have meant more to Arteta.
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