Arsenal, who have played a game more than Liverpool, had cut the gap to four points and now it’s back at six. But it’s not just about the numbers. Liverpool scored twice in injury time to win; Arsenal threw away a 2-0 lead. Liverpool turned a draw into a win as Arsenal turned a win into a draw. It wouldn’t have taken much to have been different for the gap to have been down to two points and for the pressure really to be on Liverpool. As it is, Arsenal are left with very little margin for error.
What will hurt most of all is the sense that, yet again, this was a game they should have won comfortably. Not for the first time in recent weeks, they struggled to turn domination into chances and into goals and then, having got the second 10 minutes after half-time, they were undone by extraordinary sloppiness. The first Villa goal was the result of a fine Lucas Digne cross and Youri Tielemans’ bravery to get his head in front of Merino’s foot. But what felt characteristic was the way Arsenal then subsided.
Tielemans hit the post after Myles Lewis-Skelly had given away possession and then a half-cleared corner was returned to the middle by Matty Cash for an entirely unmarked Ollie Watkins, who had wandered away from Thomas Partey, to score. Arsenal rallied and could have won it late on but eight minutes of nonsense had squandered all the good work they’d done. It will come as no consolation that they’ve had the better xG in 20 of their last 21 games.
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