Arsenal Rein In Liverpool

It’s another day, and another exciting game between the Big Four in England.

This time, Liverpool was held at home 4-4 by Arsenal. Arsenal showed their quality play, despite the youth in their side, with another dazzling attacking performance.

Four of the goals came from Andrei Arsharvin—their latest import from Russia. He gives them the kind of top level finishing that has been missing since Thierry Henry left for Barcelona. His shooting today was nothing short of fantastic.

I am expecting good things from Arsenal next season in terms of a title challenge as their team continues to gel and mature.

Liverpool; however, seems to be tiring at this stage of the season mentally.

They haven't got quite the squad depth that Man United have, and thus have had to play their regulars in back to back games without much rest in between.

Plus, they're without talismanic captain Steven Gerrard for at least the next 10 days.

That could be catastrophic for their title challenge. Not to mention, they're out of Europe and only have the league title to aim for.

Today's draw definitely puts the momentum back with United who have two games in hand and are just a point behind Liverpool in the league table.

This season has gone back and forth with more twists and turns than the usual, so it’s hard to project anything more than a game at a time. Hopefully Portsmouth gets a result tomorrow and Arsenal take points off United in their upcoming game as well.

There's a lot at stake for United and Liverpool because a United title this season would see the club equal Liverpool's record title haul of 18. A Liverpool win would probably put the record beyond Fergie as his retirement starts to draw near. Nobody can go on forever and Fergie is closing in on age 70.

Liverpool continues to score goals, but their defence hasn't been nearly taut enough in recent games to keep them in the game. They drew 4-4 against Chelsea in Europe and now 4-4 again to Arsenal.

Granted, you can't really say that's a bad result because Chelsea and Arsenal have two of the most potent offenses in world football. And 4-4 draws work both ways too. Chelsea and Arsenal's defences both let in four goals to Liverpool. It is two points lost for Liverpool, but remember this is Arsenal, not West Brom.

I think Liverpool’s Yossi Benayoun has been a gem of a buy and should have been a starter not a role player. He is extremely intelligent, has great positional and tactical sense and scores goals regularly from midfield. Ryan Babel hasn't been featured enough this season as well. I can only assume his work ethic or attitude is not to Rafa's liking. He'll likely be sold in summer when he should be worked in and nurtured. He has superb ability, and Liverpool needs all the talented playmakers they can get.

I also believe Liverpool’s defence is sound, but is leaking goals at the exhausting end of a long season. Its sheer mental fatigue at this point and Rafa should have had a deeper defensive rotation.

They could have won this game if their defence was sharper but take nothing away from Arsenal and Arsharvin. Their offense was dazzling tonight. Arsharvin, Adebayor, Walcott and Van Persie are a fabulous attack line.