Arsenal 3 Liverpool 3 : Iwobi Poor But Bags Assist, Akpom Not In 18, Solanke Benched

Arsenal were held to a 3-3 draw by Liverpool after initially falling two goals behind at Emirates Stadium on Friday evening in an English Premier League encounter of 2017.

Nigeria's Alex Iwobi started upfront for Arsenal alongside Alexandre Lacazette, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil while Dominic Solanke was named on the substitutes bench for the visitors.

The Reds dominantly started on the front foot in the encounter and their sustained pressure would pay off in the 26th minute mark with Mohamed Salah raided down the right flank before sending an incisive cross for Phillipe Coutinho to attack, the Brazilian guiding a header over Peter Cech.

Salah eventually doubled Liverpool's advantage seven minutes after the restart, finishing off a sublime pass from strike partner, Roberto Firmino with a deflected effort which found the bottom corner.

Arsene Wenger's men hit back almost immediately through Alexis Sanchez, the Chilean getting onto the end of a Hector Bellerin's cross to head home from close range, thereby kick starting a magnificent five-minute turnaround.

Iwobi teed up Granit Xhaka who rattled in a powerful strike from 25 yards to draw the game level first before Ozil pounced to make it 3-2, combining with Lacazette to lift a sensational effort over Mignolet and in.

But Firmino spared his side's blushes with a well taken equalizer with less than 20 minutes left to play, ensuring Jurgen Klopp's side held onto fourth place on the standings going into the new year.

Alex Iwobi, who had a poor game, was replaced by Danny Welbeck with 12 minutes left of the game while Dominic Solanke could not make it off the bench for the entirety of the game.

Emmanuel Chinaza

Photo Credit : arsenal.com