Match Review: Liverpool 4-1 Arsenal

Well, what can I say? Another poor performance from Arsene Wenger's red and white army. They played us off the park and we looked like we couldn't care less about the result. This dire performance means we drop down to 4th, but don't worry we still have a game in hand (if you didn't know, I am being sarcastic)!

Le Boss decided to play 4-4-2, with Baptista partnering Adebayor up front. Ljungberg and Rosicky dropped to the bench with Denilson and Hleb starting alongside Cesc and Diaby in midfield. Ever since the kick off, The Gunners looked sloppy, tired, unfit and just generally bad. And we got off to the worst possible start. Arbeloa's low cross was turned in at the near post by the long legs of Peter Crouch, after just 4 minutes at Anfield. We were poor. The likes of Fabregas and Denilson were not at their best and Hleb was diabolical down the right, losing the ball whenever he received it. Baptista was slow up front and even the back 4, arguably our strongest possible, were sloppy and mistake-prone. The only positive thing was that the Arsenal supporters were in full voice, and despite being the visitors drowned out the little support from Liverpool (who have arguably the best fans in the world). The first chance from the visitors was quite a good one. A corner flew in and Adebayor, back from suspension, leaped well and headed just over, onto the roof of the net. This was followed by an impressive acrobatic effort from Crouch, with Lehmann saved superbly. On the half hour mark, Adebayor played a neat ball in for Baptista, but the Brazilian completely miscued his shot, and saw it fly miles wide of the target. Five minutes later, a sublime cross from the left from Aurelio, was met by Crouch, who thumped a perfect header past the helpless Lehmann, for his second of the afternoon. It was simply stunning and it had pretty much knocked the stuffing out of Arsenal and it showed as they miserably trudged inside at the break.

Despite an improvement in The Gunners' performance, the home side were still on top in the second period. And they could have put the game to bed. Gonzalez's cross found Gerrard, but he hacked the volley straight at Lehmann. But then seconds later, Arsenal were on the counter attack. Adebayor cut inside brilliantly and fired a shot towards the bottom corner. Reina was beaten. But the post saved Liverpool. It was Arsenal's best chance and the Togo striker was incredibly unlikely, it deserved to be a goal. However, on the hour, the match looked beyond doubt. Aurelio's freekick was launched into the box, for Agger to flick his header past Lehmann. 3-0. It was painful to watch. But minutes later, Arsenal had another opportunity and again it was Adebayor. Baptista's cross was met brilliantly by Adebayor, who powered a super header on goal. But Reina, at full stretch, managed to get his fingertips to it, and tip the ball onto the post. It was a quite remarkable save and if anyone deserved a goal today, it was Adebayor. Finally, The Gunners had a breakthrough. On 74 minutes, a Fabregas corner was flicked on by Toure and William Gallas bundled the ball over the line from close range. You would have thought it was just consolation, but it had Liverpool worried - for 8 minutes at least. It was inevitable that Crouch would complete his hat-trick and he did it in style. He cut inside two defenders before firing a sweet strike into the top corner. 4-1. Humiliation for Arsenal. And despite Adebayor's brilliance it was one of the worst Arsenal performances I have witnessed.

Match Ratings:
Lehmann: Despite conceding 4, they were all unstoppable. Made a few good saves (6)
Eboue: Lacks match practice. Looked stiff and sloppy. Should have played Hoyte (4)
Toure: Completely different player to the Mr Reliable we are used to. Poor (5)
Gallas: Made a few brilliant tackles. One of the better players, with a goal to boot (8)
Clichy: Anonymous. Poor going forward too (5)
Hleb: Absolutely crap. Worst performance I've seen in ages. Needs to up his game (2)
Fabregas: Very very poor. Not like him. Passing was awful (4)
Denilson: I know he's 19 but he was poor. Like Cesc his passing was bad (4)
Diaby: Quite impressive. Skillful and strong. Plus, he was out of position (7)
Baptista: Has a lot of work to do if he wants to stay. My patience is running thin (3)
Adebayor: Worked his socks off, could have got a hat-trick. Sensational. Boy, we've missed him! (9)

Ljungberg: Didn't make an impact (5)
Rosicky: Didn't make an impact (5)
Hoyte: Not enough time (5)

MAN OF THE MATCH: Peter Crouch