“Liverpool weren’t expecting it” – How Arsenal star in unfamiliar role led to Gunners goal

Liverpool were perhaps taken by surprise by Ben White’s pass out from defence today that led to the opening goal for Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka.

White doesn’t normally play centre-back for Arsenal, but he had to start there today for Mikel Arteta’s side due to William Saliba being out suspended following last weekend’s red card against Bournemouth.

Still, see below as Arsenal-focused Telegraph journalist Sam Dean points out on X, formerly Twitter, that the pass by White to Saka was not necessarily the kind of ball Saliba would have played, so it perhaps ended up being a blessing in disguise for Arsenal as Liverpool weren’t expecting it…

Arsenal have plenty of quality depth in their squad these days, and it’s pretty remarkable that, so far at least, they’re not missing Saliba too much, even though the France international is world class and usually a hugely important player for the team.

White is another quality player even if he’s not in his best position, so that’s not a bad option for Arteta to rely on while Saliba is out.

Arsenal facing further defensive issues against Liverpool

As well as Saliba being out, Arsenal are now also without Gabriel Magalhaes as he limped off early in the second half to be replaced by Jakub Kiwior.

This could end up being a long second half for the Gunners, but, as the White pass for the Saka goal showed, you never know what other qualities you might get from the player replacing your first choice.

Arsenal have done well so far to mostly dominate this game, though they were perhaps a little more defensively suspect than usual when Virgil van Dijk headed home a corner for LFC earlier in the game.

Thankfully, Bukayo Saka returned from injury to start today’s game, so that attacking threat remains for the home side as they chase an important three points.