Early blow landed in title race

THE ANFIELD GOAL-SCORING LEGEND PULLS NO PUNCHES ON HIS FORMER SIDE

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It may be very early in the season. But Liverpool landed a psychological blow on Arsenal in the Premier League title race with their victory at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

In terms of clawing back points, the Gunners will know there is no real issue as they can do that by winning the reverse fixture later in the campaign.

But it was the message that it sent out that will bother the Londoners and act as a major boost for Arne Slot’s side as a much-changed team continues to adjust and adapt.

I said last week that I'd love it if Liverpool dogged out a scrappy 1-0 win against Arsenal, and so it proved.

I had no problems at all with what Mikel Arteta tried to do. He had a few players unavailable and getting a point at Anfield is never a bad outcome. Their gameplan was to restrict Liverpool and be happy with a goalless draw, and they nearly got it.