Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, said, his side “wanted” to emerge victorious in the Premier League match against Liverpool on Thursday night, but, failed to do that in the first 45 minutes.
The game had the Gunners finish goalless against defending champions, Liverpool, right inside Emirates Stadium on Thursday 8 January, 2026.
Had Arsenal won the clash, they would have gone eight (8) points at the top of the table, but, settled with a point and are currently six (6) points leading.
The Spaniard expressed satisfaction with his side’s “discipline” after the home side finished the encounter without conceding a goal against the holders.
The former Arsenal midfielder said, the outcome feels like the Gunners failed to take the opportunity to lead at the top with a wide point gap, however, said, “every time you don’t win”.
Arsenal will now prepare for an FA Cup 2025/26 third round encounter against Portsmouth on Sunday 11 January, 2026, while, Liverpool gear up for the match against Barnsley on Monday 12 January, 2026.
According to arsenal.com, in his post-Liverpool press conference, Arteta said:
On the game which ended goalless at Emirates:
“Well obviously we wanted to win the game, unfortunately we didn’t manage to do that in the first half. We were much closer to that with the amount of situations and the spaces that we arrived into.
“Normally you have to pick someone in the box and it’s a goal. We had much more domination in the second half. But they have the ball, because I don’t think they had a single shot on target tonight. But we struggled more to dominate the game and to be a threat in the opposition box.”
On the Gunners chance creation:
“The movement was there, the arrival was there, the players were there. There are two or three that they come across and we need to occupy a space that we didn’t occupy to score the goal.
“But against Villa, we were excellent at that and every time we do that, that’s why you win those big matches and today we missed that, we were missing that, at least we were so disciplined that we didn’t concede absolutely anything against the champions.”
On whether the outcome feels like a missed chance:
“Yeah, every time you don’t win. But then we would have been 12, 15 or 20 points ahead. I have to really praise the team and the players individually for what they’ve done in this Christmas period.
“I think the boys deserve my credit and everybody’s recognition.”
On the difficulty of maintaining level:
“I have this feeling since August. I think we all have the same, every manager, every player, every team. Because this is the level of this league and you see how difficult it is.”
On what he is most proud of so far this season:
“The desire they have to win and the consistency that they are showing. Tomorrow we go again because we have another game on Sunday.”
With the result on Thursday, Arsenal remain toppers with forty-nine (49) points, with second-placed Manchester United at forty-three (43) points, while, Liverpool are fourth with thirty-five (35) points.
Photo: Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta | Getty Images
