'Leno and Alisson doubts harsh'

Bernd Leno and Alisson came in for some harsh words in the wake of their conceding goals during the 1-1 draw between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates on Saturday. 

However writer for the 'Mail on Sunday', David Preece, believes that any criticism of either goalkeeper is slightly harsh. 

Preece writes, 'In both situations the goalkeepers were right to attempt to intervene, albeit unsuccessfully', in reference to the manner in which Mané evaded Leno for Liverpool's goal and Alisson was bamboozled by Lacazette for Arsenal's equaliser. 

The sports correaspondent is of the opinion that there were other reasons as to why the keepers conceded the goals, aside from their own inability to keep the ball out. 

“We are unbeaten against the top six so it’s positive but we could have quite easily won.”@andrewrobertso5 on yesterday's @Arsenal draw...

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 4, 2018

For example, Preece highlights that, for Mané's goal, 'If he (Leno) decides not to intercept the cross, there's a possibility Mo Salah slides in to score at the far post, so he takes the chance to cut out the ball, getting as much of a deviation on it as he can and hope it drops to one of his own players.'

While Preece also believes that the 'Gunners' leveller was more down to the skill of striker Alexandre Lacazette, as opposed to poor goalkeeping from Alisson, writing: 'The pass from Alex Iwobi is weighted perfectly for Alexandre Lacazette to possibly hit first time on the run, so the Brazilian closes him down to stave off the initial danger of the shot, hoping to push him out wider so the angle of finish is too acute and his defenders can recover.'

Instead, Preece points to the lax defending of the players in front of the two shot stoppers as the reason for either side conceding.

 

November 3, 2018

For the Liverpool goal, Preece writes' Actually, it is the touch off Rob Holding's leg that puts it in James Milner's path, not the parry from Leno. Without that touch, the ball drops for Saed Kolasinac to clear.' 

Likewise, Preece defends Alisson for Arsenal's goal, writing 'It is easy to say Alisson should retreat with more urgency to get back in position, but he only does that once Trent Alexander-Arnold appears in front of him. If Alexander-Arnold hadn't been there, Alisson would have been even more aggressive and stayed to engage Lacazette again.'

Nevertheless, both sides came away from the match feeling like they had dropped points, rather than having ground out a valuable draw. 

Liverpool's Andrew Robertson spoke of his hopes that the missed opportunity for three points will prove to be a good thing at the end of the season, while Arsenal will feel that they could have used their late momentum to nick the spoils for themselves.