Arsenal Escape with a Lucky Draw away to Liverpool

Arsenal's Premier league campaign for the 2010/11 season got underway yesterday when they travelled to Anfield to play Liverpool and just about managed to scrape a 1-1draw.

The team selection was more or less as I had predicted yesterday although the fact that Cesc wasn't even in the panel was more than a little surprising considering the fact that Torres was able to come on as a sub for Liverpool. Both players played in the World Cup final five weeks ago but Torres got injured in that match and yet he somehow recovered in time to play yesterday even though Cesc  was not available for Arsenal. I know he played in Mexico on Wednesday night but so did David Silva and he played for City against the Spuds on Saturday.

Almunia won the keepers jersey and unless we sign another keeper he is still the first choice for the season. His performance didn't inspire me at all as he was again poor on crosses, slow to leave his line and too easy to intimidate at corners. He might have done better on the goal too in my opinion although it was by no means a bad mistake by him. 

The defence was what will be our first choice defence for the season as long as the players remain fit and free of suspension. They played well enough and Liverpool created very little in the game but we will have to make a change against Blackpool next Saturday as Koscielny will be suspended after a ridiculous red card.

In midfield my suggestion that Diaby would play was proved right as he took the holding role with Wilshere and Nasri in front of him. In the first half we dominated proceedings and the midfield looked very good but after the break Diaby was back to his worst as he continually took too much time on the ball when we needed to pick up the pace of the game. Wilshere looked tidy but after his yellow card he was always one tackle away from a red card as the referee looked to even things up after sending Joe Cole off and it was right to replace him. Nasri bossed the game in the first half as Arsenal dominated but in the second half he faded badly and he looked devoid of ideas to me.

Up front Chamakh played the central role with Arshavin on the left and the surprise inclusion of Eboue on the right. I'm sure Walcott must have been frustrated at sitting on the bench but I think Eboue was picked for his defensive abilities rather than the threat he might pose going forward. I thought Chamakh played well and it was due to him attacking the Rosicky cross that we got back into the game. Arshavin was again very quiet and I just don't know when we will see him play at his best.

In the first half we bossed the game without really threatening to score and it was difficult to believe that Liverpool were the home team. The game seemed to change when Joe Cole was correctly sent off at the end of the first half when in attempting to block the ball he slid into Koscielny's right leg and could have done him some serious damage. We were lucky that Koscielny didn't end up with a broken leg and he did well to emerge for the second half with a badly bruised leg.

We were caught cold at the start of the second half when a pass to Wilshere went slightly behind him and he let it go. It was intercepted by Mascherano who played it into the channel for N'Gog who ran onto it and slammed it into the top corner at the near post. Almunia could possibly have done better but it was still a well taken goal. After that Arsenal took a long time to regain any sort of composure and it was the introduction of Rosicky and then RVP which eventually got them playing with some urgency.

Walcott had a good free kick which Reina saved, RVP headed an Arshavin cross back into the six yard box but Liverpool somehow cleared it with Reina stranded and Reina saved a Rosicky shot after he had been played through by a one-two with Chamakh. Arsenal had a couple of chances from headers as well but it looked like Liverpool would hold out. In the very last minute of normal time Rosicky put a cross in and Chamakh got across the keeper to head the ball against the post. As the ball rebounded to Reina he attempted to grasp it but it slipped off the end of his fingers and into his own goal. My thoughts were that it was some nice payback for the man who called Cesc the future of Barcelona on the night when the Barcelona shirt was forced on him by Puyol and Pique.

We still had time for Koscielny to get two yellow cards in injury time and get himself sent off. The first was thoroughly deserved for a high foot but the second one was a joke. He was in the opposing half challenging for the ball and it was deflected against his hand but the referee saw fit to give him a second yellow card for it which meant he walked.

Earlier in the half N'Gog intentionally handled the ball in our half to attempt to gain an advantage but the referee didn't even see fit to speak to him about it. The glaring inconsistency pf refereeing was blatantly obvious when Gerrard was only booked for his second yellow card offence but I suppose as the first one was on Eboue we were never going to see a yellow for it. I also thought Eboue could have had a penalty in the first half when he attempted to run around Agger and got a shoulder to the chest which put him off the pitch but again his reputation proceeds him and he rarely gets anything from referees.

I wanted a win but I would have taken a draw and to be honest we got lucky in the end to come away with a point. We now have only one centre back available for next Saturday's home game against Blackpool unless Djourou recovers from his injury and the matter needs to be addressed immediately. With Cesc, RVP and Song all sure to return for that game I think we will see our strongest side out on the pitch and as long as we don't underestimate Blackpool we should give them a torrid afternoon.

There is very little transfer news around today and despite the fact that Given would like to leave City I just cannot see them selling or loaning him to Arsenal who are an obvious target in the top four for them. It remains to be seen if we are actually in the hunt for Schwarzer but I still think after yesterday's performance from Almunia that it is blatantly obvious that we need a new keeper.

In my fantasy league there is only one game to go to finish off week one and so far J Cogan who is a Canadian Arsenal fan is leading on 82 points with Noel Kearney who is an Irish Spuds fan in last place on 10 points. There are 609 teams in the league and plenty more waiting to be added for next week which is great and I'd like to thank all the people who took the time to enter my league and of course 11Gunners who have helped so much to get teams to join too. That's it for today and I'll have a bigger fantasy breakdown tomorrow after the final game tonight.

The highlights of the game can be seen here  .

See You Tomorrow.