Arsenal show new resolve but stars aligning for Liverpool 

Increasing evidence points to it Jurgen Klopp's final season at Anfield ending in fairytale fashion.

STALEMATE: Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus misses an attempt on goal. Pic: Martin Rickett, PA Wire.

Premier League: Man City 0 Arsenal 0

A GAME that never for a minute lived up to its billing as a potential title decider did at least confirm one fact about the three-horse chase for the Premier League crown: The stars appeared to be aligning over Anfield.

Jürgen Klopp’s final season in charge was always likely to be an emotional ride for Liverpool and their supporters and the increasing evidence points to it ending in fairytale fashion.

That was the unavoidable conclusion to be drawn from 90 largely underwhelming minutes at the Etihad and a first goalless draw at the stadium since Southampton came away with a surprising point in September 2021.

Arsenal, two points behind Klopp’s leaders with nine games and 27 points to play for, were certainly the happier of these combatants to come away with a solitary point.

For Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, the prospect of becoming the first manager in the history of the English game to win four consecutive league titles suffered a blow, as he remains a further point behind his rival, and close friend, Mikel Arteta.

All three managers, naturally, could be expected to trade in platitudes about there being such a long way to go, but the simple fact is that the only points Liverpool have dropped in the league since mid-December have come in draws with Arsenal and City and a loss at the Emirates at the start of February.

And despite the fact that City are still in the hunt to repeat last season’s historic treble, Guardiola’s team is playing well below the immaculate standards it set 12 months ago on its way to glory on three fronts.

Much of that can be accounted for by injuries — with Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland having already suffered long absences, Guardiola was forced to go into this contest without John Stones and Kyle Walker, injured on international duty in midweek, while Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson remains sidelined.

But the sight of City players slumped to the ground on the final whistle said much about the state of exhaustion that has afflicted their squad at the worst possible time. That owes much to the exertions of last season, which lasted well into June, as well as the international commitments that saw most of Guardiola’s squad feature in last season’s World Cup and during the recent international break.

Haaland, for example, has scored 29 times this season — a phenomenal return for any mere “mortal” goalscorer.

But so much of City’s success last season was built on the fact that Haaland is no mere “mortal,” as his 52 goals testified.

Here, not for the first time of late, his chances were seriously limited and resulted in him heading wide from a first-half Josko Gvardiol cross then mis-kicking a difficult chance in the dying minutes from close range after a header from the same defender.

De Bruyne, who has missed so much of this season with a hamstring injury, is another playing below the standards set last season.

His delivery and ability to beat a man was far below what has become the expected norm from one of the Premier League’s greatest-ever creators.

Much of that, of course, was down to an excellent Arsenal performance, as Arteta’s men were unrecognisable from the side that surrendered 4-1 here 11 months ago and, with that, handed City the title.

Indeed, not for the first time this season, Arsenal showed they are a very different proposition compared to recent years, ending a run of eight straight defeats at the Etihad that dates back to a draw in May 2016.

The better chances were carved out by Arteta’s side, with former City striker
Gabriel Jesus failing from three decent openings — missing the target twice in the first half from promising positions and then sliding in and missing a Bukayo Saka cross by inches in the second period.

Their defensive effort was even better, with David Raya barely required to do anything above basic housekeeping,
although he might have enjoyed a slice of luck when De Bruyne’s 15th-minute corner struck Ake on the shoulder and rolled into his arms.

That defensive effort marked the first time since October 2021 that City had failed to score in a home league game, on a day they were surprisingly beaten 2-0 by Crystal Palace.

There was little chance of Arsenal coming away with that sort of upset victory on this occasion but, after
winning the home fixture against City 1-0 at the start of October, taking four points and two clean sheets from league meetings with Guardiola certainly sounds like the stuff of champions.

MAN CITY (4-1-4-1): Ortega 6; Akanji 5, Dias 7, Ake 6 (Lewis 26, 6), Gvardiol 6; Rodri 8, Silva 7, De Bruyne 6, Kovacic 7 (Grealish 61, 6), Foden 6 (Doku 61, 7); Haaland 6.

ARSENAL (4-3-3): Raya 6; White 6, Saliba 8, Gabriel 7, Kwior 6 (Tomiyasu 66, 5); Odegaard 7, Jorginho 6 (Partey 66, 5), Rice 7; Saka 6 (Martinelli 78, 5), Havertz 6, Jesus 5 (Trossard 72, 5).

Referee: A Taylor 5