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Mikel Arteta makes Anfield admission Liverpool fans will love to hear after Arsenal loss

Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool as Mikel Arteta admitted where his team came up short against the Premier League champions and what they could not achieve

[Mikel Arteta saw his Arsenal team beaten by Liverpool at Anfield]

Mikel Arteta saw his Arsenal team beaten by Liverpool at Anfield(Image: Getty)

Mikel Arteta reckons the Anfield atmosphere and a "magic moment" were behind his Arsenal side's downfall against Liverpool.

The Gunners manager has stood by the tactics that left the Premier League champions stifled for lengthy spells of a cagey clash, but failed to create enough meaningful chances for his own side. Dominik Szoboszlai netted the decisive strike with a thunderous 30-yard free-kick in the 83rd minute to maintain Arne Slot's team's perfect record this season on Sunday afternoon.

Arsenal had looked the superior outfit during a sluggish opening 45 minutes, but second half that all changed and they found themselves increasingly pushed back by Liverpool in the final quarter. Arteta offered a straightforward explanation for why the match's rhythm swung in favour of the hosts after the interval as he was grilled over his own defensive approach.

"Because this is Anfield and at some point it's going to change," he explained. "You cannot dominate Anfield for 95 minutes, and it changed in various ways, especially because we made the right decision when our keeper got the ball in their hands."

"We started to rush it, the turnovers we didn't manage them so well, so we could never glide as a team, and they were able to create those moments without really creating any situations of danger."

[Dominik Szoboszlai scored a stunning free kick to earn Liverpool the win over Premier League title rivals Arsenal at Anfield]

Dominik Szoboszlai scored a stunning free kick to earn Liverpool the win over Premier League title rivals Arsenal at Anfield

Arsenal, missing the injured Bukayo Saka and with Martin Odegaard only deemed suitable for the substitutes' bench, adopted a conservative strategy built around defensive solidity and set-piece threats, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Yet Arteta insisted: "We didn't do our gameplan to frustrate them, we did it to win it. I think we elevated the game and the dominance to a point that they have to raise it. They [Liverpool] did, especially from the 60-78 minutes, when then you could see that there were no margins in the game and then when that happens the game is going to be decided in one of two ways.

"One, with an individual error and two, with a magic moment. So they created a moment that was incredible, that has won the game and that was the difference, nothing else."

When quizzed about whether his midfield was too defensive, Arteta responded: "Well, that's what we had. Martin Odegaard was injured, Kai [Havertz] cannot play, [Mikel] Merino is a player that is incredible arriving from there.

"We played with three attacking players, two attacking full-backs. After the game, I think it's too easy to say that [it was too conservative]."

Arsenal suffered a blow as William Saliba was forced off due to injury early on, paving the way for new signing Cristhian Mosquera to make his debut.

Arteta elaborated: "William twisted his ankle during the warm-up, and he came in and he said he believed that he could carry on and play but he strayed away in the first two actions.

"I could see that he couldn't cope and we had to get him out, unfortunately. But thank God we have Mosquera, which we put in for the first time in the Premier League, his debut, not expecting it at Anfield and I think he was really, really good."

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