Arsenal and Liverpool played out an entertaining draw at Anfield last night and winger Gabriel Martinelli was once again causing Trent Alexander-Arnold problems.
It was Gabriel Magalhaes who gave Arsenal the lead yesterday but Mohamed Salah equalised in a game full of good chances.
Commentating on the match for BBC Sport, Stephen Warnock praised the directness of the young Brazilian.
When the teams came out yesterday, it’s hard to argue that Mikel Arteta didn’t pick his strongest side.
Kai Havertz has started to answer the questions from his doubters with a string of strong recent performances.
Arteta hasn’t been able to play the trio of Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli together very often, but he knew he would need his strongest team against one of Arsenal’s title rivals.
Although Martinelli failed to add to his goal contributions tally against Liverpool, the Arsenal youngster can be happy with aspects of his game.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive lapses are well documented but he’ll be pleased that Arsenal failed to create too many chances from his side.
It sums up Martinelli’s season where the 22-year-old has been decent but has not lived up to the expectations that he set last year.
Martinelli’s directness impresses for Arsenal vs Liverpool
Talking about one particular moment in the first half, Warnock said: “That run from [Gabriel] Martinelli was just breathtaking, wasn’t it?
“Trent Alexander-Arnold sold himself, he skipped past him, then he skipped past [Wataru] Endo, nice switch of play.
“Then it’s just great to watch when Martinelli is in full flow.”
Thierry Henry admitted last week that he was concerned about Martinelli and his attacking teammates if they’re going to put together a sustained title challenge.
With Manchester City not at their best this year, a real opportunity has opened up for their rivals.
They’ll probably be quite pleased that Arsenal and Liverpool drew and it even gives Tottenham a sniff of entering the title race once again.
Martinelli will be frustrated that he couldn’t add to his two league goals against Liverpool but he’s still showing glimpses of why he continues to start ahead of Leandro Trossard.
However, given the busy Christmas period, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see some rotation from Arteta going forward.
Arteta has to consider rotation during busy period
Looking at the stats from yesterday’s match, Martinelli struggled to be a constant threat to Liverpool during his 68 minutes on the pitch before being replaced by Arsenal teammate Trossard.
In that time, he managed just 11 successful passes and 33 touches, while he only completed two of his six dribbles.
His work-rate is exceptional and Arteta can’t question his commitment to the cause.
The fact that he contested 10 duels while on the pitch must be admired, but he’ll be frustrated that he only won three of them.
Hosting West Ham on the 28th gives Arsenal the biggest break over Christmas out of Premier League side.
However, they then travel to Fulham on New Year’s Eve and not every player in the squad can start all three matches.
It might be wise to give Martinelli a rest at the Emirates before returning to Craven Cottage where he enjoyed a very impressive performance last season.
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