COMMENT: Skrtel’s late gift lifts festive spirits at Anfield but Gunners remain lost in limbo for Crimbo

On a day when Steven Gerrard made a vociferous defence of his manager — and one wag on the Kop dressed up as Jesus to hold up a placard saying "Brendan: I’ve got your back" — a late equaliser against Arsenal has given Liverpool, and their coach, a chance to save their season over Christmas.

Perhaps in the build-up, when captain Gerrard insisted a place in the top four and a trophy should be the target for 2015, Liverpool would have balked at only one point against a struggling Arsenal side.

But given that Martin Skrtel’s equaliser came deep in injury time, and with the home side down to 10 men following a red card for substitute Fabio Borini, there was still a positive vibe on Merseyside just days after Liverpool also reached the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup.

A quick look at the next five fixtures in the Premier League, should strengthen the feeling that things are on the up for the Kop, with Burnley, Swansea, Leicester, Sunderland and Aston Villa on the horizon before the Reds face West Ham at Anfield on the last day of January. So make no mistake, Skrtel’s goal is a huge one for Liverpool’s season.

Adam Lallana summed up the feeling in the Anfield dressing room as he said: ” It was massively important we got something. We can take a bit of momentum out of that goal into the Christmas period. We have games coming up that are winnable, but we need to start turning these draws and good performances into wins.”

Lallana is right; this result leaves Liverpool 10th in the Premier League, nine points off fourth place, a statistic which is nothing to be proud of given the way expectations were raised last season; but coming on the back of that Capital One Cup success at Bournemouth and an encouraging attacking display, even in defeat, at Old Trafford, at least the green shoots of recovery are visible.

The pressure on Rodgers is easing too. Criticism of his tactics and his use of Raheem Sterling in a ‘false nine’ position has faded, particularly after the way his 3-4-3 formation baffled Arsenal in the opening half at Anfield.

“No-one in the dressing room has lost confidence in the manager, we are all behind him, we all believe in him,” Gerrard insisted. “We are a strong dressing room with a good manager — it will only be a matter of time before we turn it around.”

To do that Liverpool will need to defend better, turn more of their chances into goals — they had 23 efforts on goal against Arsenal but too often failed to really test Wojciech Szczesny — and, ultimately, get Daniel Sturridge fit and playing. If they can achieve all that, then maybe they can yet save something from the season, even if Gerrard’s prediction of a top four finish looks optimistic

Spotting the green shoots at Arsenal — and predicting if they, too, will turn things around — is more complicated. The return of Olivier Giroud has added potency to their attack — he has four goals since his return — but has also diminished the influence of Danny Welbeck and left Wenger struggling to find a system that works around him. In fact, astonishing and alarming statistics that show Wenger’s men had only 35% of possession at Anfield — the lowest figure ever recorded by an Arsenal side since Opta stats were introduced in 2003. At the very least, given that Arsenal have enjoyed at least 60% of possession in most fixtures this season, the figures certainly indicate that Rogers won the tactical battle despite having to share the points.

Arsenal’s inability to deal with set-pieces, and a worrying lack of resolve to see out a match that was all but won before Skrtel thundered home his header seven minutes into injury time, is also a concern — and leaves Wenger’s side, now sixth in the table but four points off the Champions League places, looking for their own turning point.

It could come, perhaps, against QPR on St Stephen’s Day — a team that has failed to win a single away match all season – but, after that, Arsenal’s fixture list is more difficult than Liverpool’s, and includes games against West Ham, Southampton and Manchester City.

Perhaps on reflection Wenger will claim that a result against Liverpool is no bad thing going into a hectic festive schedule, considering his side lost 5-1 there last season when the Anfield side were looking like potential champions. But the underlying feeling is Arsenal still haven’t found top gear and don’t have the real belief they can win against the very best.

Now that Liverpool, according to the Kop, have someone up top looking after Brendan Rodgers’ back, who’s going to keep an eye out for Arsene?