- Date:2009-12-13
- Kick-off:16:00
- Venue:Anfield
- Attendance:43853
- Referee:Webb, H
Live Commentary
90mins
Full time: LIVERPOOL 1-2 ARSENAL. A much-improved second-half performance helps the Gunners seal a fine comeback win.
90mins
Arshavin leaves the field to be replaced by Ramsey.
87mins
Carragher deflects Arshavin's shot out for a corner.
86mins
Silvestre comes on for Traore.
85mins
Howard Webb's yellow card count rises to six with a booking for Lucas.
84mins
Degen blasts the ball high over the Arsenal goal.
82mins
Nasri becomes the third Arsenal player to be booked.
81mins
Johnson is replaced by Degen.
81mins
Agger directs a back-heel on goal but the ball goes well wide.
79mins
Arshavin picks up a booking for a late tackle on Agger.
78mins
Ngog comes on for Benayoun.
75mins
Gerrard flicks the ball on for Torres but Almunia races off his line to smother the ball.
73mins
Arshavin drifts off the Liverpool defence before trying his luck form 20 yards out. Reina makes a comfortable save.
71mins
Diaby heads the ball on looking for Fabregas but Carragher clears.
69mins
Diaby comes on for Walcott.
67mins
Kuyt can't control a pass from Torres and it's out for a throw to Arsenal.
65mins
Mascherano makes way for Aquilani.
63mins
Gerrard wants a free kick after a foul by Traore but the England man is told to get up.
60mins
Torres heads across goal but the ball bounces wide of the target.
58mins
LIVERPOOL 1-2 ARSENAL: ARSHAVIN cuts inside before unleashing a fierce shot into the top left hand corner.
57mins
Arsene Wenger has made a tactical change and swapped Nasri and Walcott, as Arsenal look for a second goal.
55mins
Mascherano is booked for a late tackle on Fabregas.
53mins
Torres' low cross is gathered by Almunia.
51mins
LIVERPOOL 1-1 ARSENAL: Nasri's cross deflects off JOHNSON and rolls over the line. Own goal by the Liverpool defender.
49mins
Kuyt is forced into defending as Sagna's cross is hacked out by the goal scorer.
47mins
Almunia punches clear from Gerrard's cross.
46mins
We're back underway.
45mins
The teams are back out for the second half. No changes at the break.
45mins
Half time: LIVERPOOL 1-0 ARSENAL: Liverpool go in at the break with a deserved lead.
45mins
Two minutes of added time to be played.
43mins
Aurelio is the first Liverpool player to be booked this afternoon.
42mins
Johnson hacks Fabregas' free-kick away.
40mins
LIVERPOOL 1-0 ARSENAL: Aurelio's free-kick is flicked on by Lucas and KUYT slams home his sixth of the season.
37mins
Walcott sends over a dangerous low cross but Johnson clears.
35mins
Nasri's long range shot goes harmlessly wide of the Liverpool goal.
33mins
Fabregas launches a rare Arsenal attack but Denilson's shot is easily saved by Reina.
30mins
Torres races through on goal but the linesman flags for offside.
27mins
Kuyt crosses for Gerrard but his shot is blocked by Song.
24mins
Denilson picks up a booking for a high boot on Johnson.
24mins
Gerrard swings over a great free-kick that Almunia does well to punch clear.
22mins
Johnson does well to surge into the Arsenal box but he can't find a team mate with his cross.
20mins
Sagna's cross is volleyed out for a corner by Carragher.
19mins
Aurelio beats Nasri but his cross sails behind the Arsenal goal.
17mins
Vermaelen heads high over the Liverpool goal from Fabregas' cross.
15mins
Liverpool supporters scream for a penalty after Gerrard is brought down by Gallas - but the referee waves play on.
13mins
Gerrard sends Torres through on goal but the striker fires straight at Almunia.
12mins
Song should have done better with a ball out to Arshavin but Johnson clears.
10mins
The game has settled down after a fast start by both teams.
8mins
Gallas eases Torres off the ball as the Spain stiker looked to turn on the edge of the box.
6mins
Fabregas sends Walcott away but Carragher steps in to clear the danger.
4mins
Nasri gives the ball away to Gerrard but his cross for Kuyt is headed clear by Gallas.
2mins
Gallas is closed down by Gerrard but the Arsenal defender just manages to get the ball back to Almunia.
1mins
Referee Howard Webb gets the game under way.
0mins
The teams are out at Anfield. Both sides owe their managers a performance but who we come out on top?
0mins
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Traore, Fabregas, Denilson, Song, Walcott, Nasri, Arshavin
0mins
Theo Walcott starts for Arsenal as does midfielder Alex Song, who returns from a ban. Diaby and Eduardo are named on the bench.
0mins
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Kuyt, Mascherano, Lucas, Benayoun, Gerrard, Torres
0mins
Kop favourite Fernando Torres returns to the starting line-up for Liverpool, after recovering from a hernia problem.
Match Preview
Premier League giants Liverpool and Arsenal lock horns on Sunday at Anfield with both teams looking to turn their midweek misfortunes around.
Liverpool lost yet again in the Champions League, 2-1 at home to Fiorentina, while the Gunners suffered a 1-0 reversal at Olympiacos, although manager Arsene Wenger did rest a whole host of first-team regulars.
Rafa Benitez will have been boosted by the first-team return of Alberto Aquilani, a £20million summer signing from AS Roma, as well as their talismanic striker Fernando Torres on Wednesday.
The Spaniard has missed much of his team's disappointing run of results that has now yielded just three wins from 13 fixtures.
On the back of this poor sequence of results, the Reds sit in a lowly seventh position, well below their expected standard.
Wenger's outfit occupy third position, eight points behind leaders Chelsea although they do have a game in hand on their London rivals.
The Gunners boss was not overly concerned that his side slipped to defeat in Greece but was in fact proud of the display his youngsters put on.
Kerrea Gilbert, Fran Merida, Carlos Vela and Jack Wilshere all featured and performed admirably in a side with an average age of just 21.
The Frenchman fielded two debutants, 18-year-old pair Kyle Bartley and Tom Cruise.
Star striker Robin van Persie's surgery to reconstruct ankle ligaments is expected to keep him out for another three to four months with injury-plagued Tomas Rosicky also out with a groin strain.
Kieran Gibbs (fractured metatarsal), Johan Djouoru (knee) and Nicklas Bendtner (hernia) also remain on the sidelines.
Liverpool have turned the corner as far as their injury problems are concerned. Ryan Babel, who is nursing a ankle knock, is the only player among Benitez's ranks that is causing concern, but he is expected to be fit for Sunday's crunch clash.
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Match Report
Andrey Arshavin returned to haunt Liverpool for the second time in eight months at Anfield as his second-half wonder-strike saw Arsenal heap more misery on the Reds.
The diminutive Russian, who scored all four in a 4-4 draw in April, hammered home after 58 minutes to complete a Gunners comeback after a Glen Johnson own goal had cancelled out Dirk Kuyt's first-half strike.
And although they had inferior possession to their hosts, few would begrudge the Gunners the points as they moved up to third in the Premier League.
The Reds welcomed top scorer Fernando Torres back for his first start in six weeks and the Spanish striker seemed to invigorate Liverpool.
However, he failed to find the back of the net early on after a Steven Gerrard pass split the Arsenal defence in two.
Rafael Benitez's men looked a completely different side to the one which suffered a demoralising 2-1 defeat by Fiorentina on Wednesday and it came as no surprise when Kuyt slammed in the 41st minute.
But just as Liverpool looked to settle into a similar routine in the second period, disaster struck as Samir Nasri's cross caught the faintest of touches off Jamie Carragher, hit Johnson and rolled past the wrong-footed Reds keeper Jose Reina.
Within ten minutes the game had turned on its head as Arshavin touched the ball away from Johnson on the edge of the area before firing a trademark bullet-shot into the near corner.
Liverpool weren't about to relinquish the points that easily and barraged forward again but, for all their superior possession, the Reds' attacking threat seemed to have been snubbed out.
Italian Alberto Aquilani was soon introduced and, despite multiple crosses being fired into the Arsenal box, the ball would not fall for Liverpool as they stay seventh in the league - a demoralising 13 points adrift of leaders Chelsea.
Liverpool Team
Arsenal Team
Liverpool | Arsenal |
Corners
| 3 | 4 |
Fouls
| 19 | 16 |
Goal attempts
Shots off target
| 2 | 3 |
Offsides
| 4 | 2 |
90mins
Four minutes of time will be added on.