A Look At How Mikel Arteta Picked Liverpool Apart In Arsenal's 2-0 Victory

Football is a funny old game. On the opening day of the season Aston Villa travelled down to the Emirates and saw off Arsenal it a game that ended 3-1 to the Midlands side, sparking calls for the head of Arsene Wenger from a huge amount of Arsenal fans. However, fast forward to this weekend and the north London side have opened up a five point lead at the top of the Premier League after an impressive 2-0 defeat over Liverpool, who themselves are flying this season.

And there was one man who stood out for me, and that man was Mikel Arteta.

Mathieu Flamini has been the lynchpin in the Gunners side this season since he returned to the club but he is currently out of action, so it was up to Arteta and Aaron Ramsey to secure the central areas.

The Spaniard had the daunting task to shield the back four from the in-form front duo of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge and he did it brilliantly, restricting the Reds to just three shots on target throughout the game.

Arteta defines the word composure as he floats around the central area squeezing the ball off his opponents, and his technical ability also shone through against Brendan Rodgers' men. Arteta completed an impressive 100 passes from his 106 attempted and also made two interceptions.

His work-rate was also second to none, winning 5/6 of his tackles and making two clearances. He covered almost every blade of grass between the boxes during the tie and deserves every positive accolade that he receives, in my opinion.