3/10 Viktor Gyokeres ‘didn’t do anything’ and shown up in attack by 9/10 Arsenal defender, Liverpool ‘colossus’ hailed

Arsenal missed a golden chance to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League after being held to a 0-0 draw by Liverpool.

Both sides struggled to make many attacking contributions of note as the rain hurled down at the Emirates Stadium.

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Liverpool‘s Conor Bradley came the closest to breaking the deadlock midway through the first half after a miscommunication between Gabriel and David Raya.

Raya’s misplaced pass fell to the feet of Bradley who, from outside the box, tried to finesse his effort into an open goal.

However, the Northern Irishman’s effort struck the crossbar.

Gabriel Jesus had perhaps Arsenal‘s strongest chance early in second-half stoppage time, but the unmarked striker could only direct his header directly at Alisson.

Arsenal centre-back Gabriel also had the opportunity to nick all three points for the Gunners at the death from a corner, yet he fired his header wide.

The match ended on a rather ugly note though as Gabriel Martinelli forcefully shoved an injured Bradley to the ground, with the latter eventually needing to be stretchered off.

Thursday’s draw marked the Gunners’ first stalemate at the Emirates since September 21 when they were registered a 1-1 result by Manchester City.

Mikel Arteta‘s side now sit six points clear of City and Aston Villa, who both drew in their respective fixtures on Wednesday.

As for Liverpool, they extended their unbeaten run in the league to a ninth match as Arne Slot continues to steady the ship following an alarming run of results across September to November.

Here, talkSPORT’s chief live football anchor Adrian Durham runs the rule over who dazzled and who didn’t in Thursday’s encounter.

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How Gunners defender became their ‘best attacker’

We begin with Arsenal, who looked somewhat out of sorts.

Durham awarded goalkeeper Raya a 5, largely down to his error that almost cost the Gunners dearly only for Bradley to hit the crossbar.

Centre-back pairing William Saliba and Gabriel scored a 7 and 8 respectively while left-back Piero Hincapie got a 5.

But Durham reserved special praise for right-back Jurrien Timber, who was rated 9.

Durham felt Timber was ‘Arsenal’s best attacker’ thanks to his ‘high energy’ and ‘clever forward play’.

In the midfield, it was a less-than-stellar display.

Martin Zubimendi was awarded a 6 while skipper Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice both scored 5.

Gyokeres ‘didn’t do anything’

The Gunners’ attack didn’t fare much better, with Durham rating Bukayo Saka a 5 as he felt the England star is ‘capable of so much more’.

On the left wing, Leandro Trossard was awarded a 6 as he started bright ‘but faded’, according to Durham.

However, Durham’s most stinging verdict was reserved for Viktor Gyokeres, who had one touch in the second half before he was subbed off.

Durham gave Gyokeres a measly 3, stating the Swede ‘didn’t press‘ and ‘didn’t do anything’.

Gyokeres, who was signed for £55million in the summer, failed to register a shot and touched the ball just once in the opposition box.

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Durham felt Noni Madueke was the only substitute who made any impact of note as he got a 7.

Although Durham was less than complementary for several Arsenal players, he was far more favourable in his analysis of the Liverpool contingent.

Reds’ ‘absolute colossus’ delivers masterclass

Goalkeeper Alisson scored a 7 thanks to being ‘reliable in possession’, even if the Brazilian didn’t have to work too hard.

The entire backline of Bradley, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Milos Kerkez were each awarded a 7 by Durham too.

One player who had Durham purring was midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, who the pundit described as an ‘absolute colossus controlling it in midfield’ and was rated 8.

He made the most passes in the team outside of Van Dijk and Konate with 53 and also helped break up play with three tackles.

Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai partnered Gravenberch in the midfield and both scored 7.

£116m man ‘a joy to watch’

Jeremie Frimpong, a right-back, was used further forward at right wing and scored 6 as Durham felt he needed ‘more end product’.

Cody Gakpo, who played up top in the absence of Hugo Ekitike, was rated 5 by Durham who was ‘expecting more’ from the Dutchman.

However, Durham withheld his highest rating across the park for Florian Wirtz.

The German scored a 9 as Durham claimed he was ‘a joy to watch on the ball’ and ‘a superb footballer’.

Although Wirtz couldn’t quite weave his magic wand on a gritty contest, he helped move the ball around in the final third and did his utmost to spark Liverpool’s attack into life.