Winners and Losers: Liverpool (h) — Carabao Cup

It will be another trophyless season for Arsenal, then. Liverpool came to the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night, and despite not exactly playing Arsenal off the pitch, cruised to a 2-0 victory. The result sees Liverpool advance to take on Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final, with a fluky finish and then a world class one from Diogo Jota proving pivotal. A clearly thin-spread Arsenal now only have the Premier League to focus on. Below are three winners and three losers from a disappointing night.

Winners

Gabriel Martinelli

In his post-match press conference, Jurgen Klopp, unprompted, stated, “Martinelli, by the way, everyone should remember that name. He’s an outstanding player.” Of all the Arsenal players on the pitch, Martinelli looked like the one most likely to make something happen for the entire match. He drove at Trent Alexander-Arnold over and over, putting the English right-back on skates until Liverpool started double-teaming him. He took shots and asked questions of Liverpool’s back five. And he pressed relentlessly as well. Despite the poor results, Martinelli was threatening throughout and can enter the weekend with his head high.

Martin Odegaard

Aside from Martinelli, Odegaard was the other main standout for Arsenal on Thursday. With 74 touches, the Norwegian saw the ball more than almost all of his teammates. With all those touches, Odegaard showed a silkiness and composure that was encouraging considering he was playing slightly out of position. But despite being deployed in a more deep-lying role, Arsenal’s No. 8 was intelligent on the ball. Although it did not come to much on Thursday, Odegaard’s regular reliability when it comes to retaining possession continues to make him one of Arteta’s most trusted lieutenants.

Sambi Lokonga

For all intents and purposes, Sambi was effectively alone in midfield against Liverpool for the second time in the space of a week. Once again, the Belgian was solid in the middle of the park. He snatched up a few passes from opposition players and put up a good fight against Liverpool’s elite press. His best moment of the match came when he played a brilliant pass over the top to put Alexandre Lacazette in on goal. Sambi grew into the game, which is a testament to his talent. He should have ample opportunity in the next couple of matches to continue showing his ability.

Losers

Alexandre Lacazette

Early on in the match, Lacazette hit the crossbar from a free kick just outside of Liverpool’s penalty area. And that was about it from him. The Frenchman failed to affect the match much, and missed his one proper goalscoring chance when Sambi brilliantly put him in on goal. With Arsenal reportedly chasing Dusan Vlahovic in the transfer market, Lacazette’s anonymity on Thursday underscored just how much the club needs a more prolific striker. Despite proving a good servant to the club, Arsenal’s current No. 9 can’t be relied upon to get the Gunners into the top four. This match was just more proof of that.

Thomas Partey

Party woke up on Thursday morning in Cameroon, and was on the bench for Arsenal that evening. He deserves credit for that. But he came on to buttress Arsenal’s midfield as they chased the match, and instead made things far worse. The Ghanaian, after picking up a yellow card, made an inadvisable challenge to earn a second. As a result, Arsenal’s best midfielder was sent off and picked up a one-match suspension. This comes at a time when Arsenal were so desperate as to ask Partey to play his second match in as many days. Partey must have been spending too much time with Granit Xhaka, as he becomes the latest senior player to lose composure in a costly manner.

Edu Gaspar

The main point conveyed by Thursday’s match is that Arsenal need midfield reinforcements and a striker posthaste. However, this is not new information. And of all people, Arsenal’s technical director Edu should be thoroughly aware of that fact at this point. However, at the time of writing, Arsenal enters the 21st day of the January transfer window without any acquisitions. In that time, Arsenal have lost to Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, and Liverpool, and could have played Spurs as well if not for a postponement. By not getting the requisite transfer business done early in the window, Edu has left Arsenal to risk their season. With only Premier League fixtures remaining in Arsenal’s season, Edu must make something happen. Their top-four hopes depend on it.

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