Why Mikel Arteta’s plan B must become Arsenal’s plan A to win the Premier League

I t must have been galling for a manager with a love of supersized full-backs. Mikel Arteta was beaten by one who isn’t really a full-back at all. Dominik Szoboszlai would be more likely to play centre-forward than right-back in an Arteta team; if the Spaniard is short of full-backs, his innate preference is to use a centre-back on the flanks instead. For Arne Slot, however, a midfielder was an emergency full-back. Set-piece FC were condemned to defeat by a wonderful set-piece , Szoboszlai’s free-kick leaving David Raya shrugging as he picked himself up off the Anfield turf. Well, what could he do?

That might be Arsenal’s sense, too. They imposed themselves upon Anfield, their style of play, even their scoreline. Except this was 1-0 to Liverpool. The champions scored in the brief period of time when they were the superior side. For at least an hour, Arsenal were the more assertive, the more coherent, the more convincing. But perhaps not the more creative. Sterile domination, Arsene Wenger once called it, albeit about more technical, less physical sides.

Every other opponent had scored twice against Liverpool this season. Arsenal only mustered one shot on target. It was insufficient. They finished with Eberechi Eze, Martin Odegaard and Max Dowman, a creative contingent on the pitch. They began with each in reserve. After Eze’s emotional unveiling at the Emirates, this was the Arteta-esque reality check. The £67m man had a rare view of Anfield, partly blocked by his manager’s back.

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Flair represents Plan B on such occasions. Arteta had five flair players, including Ethan Nwaneri and Leandro Trossard, in reserve. Eze may have been bought to unlock obdurate opponents at the Emirates but a starting 11 without a creative passer had the most solid midfield available, two speedy wingers – operating against a makeshift full-back and, in Milos Kerkez, a struggling specialist – and a hulking striker; even he, Viktor Gyokeres, probably would not have started had a more defensive centre-forward, Kai Havertz, been fit.

There was a logic to it. This was, in theory, Arsenal’s toughest game of the season. They had a depleted cast. They played for more than an hour with arguably only one of their four best players, in Declan Rice, with William Saliba going off, Odegaard yet to come on and Bukayo Saka absent altogether.

But the safety-first strategy to win the league can involve eliminating errors, looking to be flawless, not fantastic. Arteta has opted to try and grind his way to glory. He and Arne Slot can look the puritan and the purist. The Dutchman believes the path to the title is paved with goals. Arteta thinks it is covered in clean sheets. Arsenal have sought the reassurance of strength in depth, of elite cover in every position. Liverpool are trying to splash out on Alexander Isak. Their squad has less balance than Arsenal’s, but it is more exciting.

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One match can be a microcosm or offer a deceptive impression. Arteta is testing the theory that the ends will justify the means. Over 38 games, it might. But it was a blueprint that relied on Arsenal getting the result. On this occasion, they did not. Their solidity gave them a platform, but it was one they could not build upon. Liverpool, whose foundations looked less secure, nonetheless touched the heights in a moment.

And, at times, Arteta can seem obsessed by height. The Arsenal manager is 5ft 9in; to put it another way, shorter than all of his starting 11. He prefers the towering to the tiny. Arsenal started the game with Rice kicking for the corner, in the manner of a rugby union fly-half. Many of his teammates would look tall enough to win the resulting lineout, too.

But when Liverpool repelled Arsenal’s set-pieces, it posed a question. What else did they have? With Odegaard not fully fit, could Arteta have started the debutant Eze in a midfield trio? It might have been a gamble but so is playing Szoboszlai at right-back and Slot is more of a gambler.

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Perhaps Arteta was banking on Liverpool conceding from set-pieces; instead the first game this season when Arsenal did not score from a dead-ball situation was also the first they conceded at all.

And, for a manager looking for marginal gains, this became a marginal loss; both in terms of a tight game and in comparisons with the recent past. Arsenal had drawn at Anfield in each of the previous three seasons. They are a point down on that return.

Meanwhile, Arteta still has his slice of Arsenal history; but as a player. It remains the case that Arteta contributed to Arsenal’s last win at Anfield: but as a midfielder and in 2012. After eight visits as a manager, he remains winless. And he still hasn’t won the title either.