Owen Hargreaves worries Arsenal don’t have one quality centre-back after defeat to Liverpool

Owen Hargreaves worries that Arsenal do not have even one quality centre-back in their ranks after the Gunners’ 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.

Arsenal were brushed aside by Liverpool at Anfield, with Mohamed Salah scoring a brace after Joel Matip’s opener.

David Luiz and Sokratis Papastathopoulos struggled to deal with Liverpool’s front three and Hargreaves identified quality centre-backs as the biggest difference between the two sides.

‘That’s the difference between Arsenal and Liverpool,’ Hargreaves said.

‘Liverpool have two terrific centre-backs and Joe Gomez. Arsenal, we’re not sure if they have one.

‘Liverpool have one of the best defences in the Premier League.

‘Arsenal are great going forward, but have so many issues in defence.’

Luiz gave away a penalty in the second half following an obvious tug on Salah’s shirt, but Unai Emery insisted the clear pull-back was not enough for a spot-kick to be awarded.

‘The penalty was the key to the game but it was very soft,’ Emery said.

‘If that is considered holding then I don’t think it was enough.

‘It was disappointing to concede a goal at that time in the game because we had done quite well in the first half, we made two or three chances to score and we were defending their crosses very well.

‘We can be optimistic for the future, I thought [Joe] Willock and [Nicolas] Pépé played well. We wanted to keep the ball more but Liverpool’s press was very strong.’

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