The unbeatables are finally beaten, Bournemouth make history and the wheels are falling off Arsenal

Each week, ‘In On Goal’ co-hosts Colin Murray and Dion Dublin give your their expert reaction and analysis from the weekend’s Premier League football. Don’t forget to tune into ‘In On Goal’ every Friday for your weekly football fix with previews and predictions of the weekend’s Premier League action.

Based on the style of attacking football that both sides have been playing this season, yesterday’s fixture at Anfield was a mouth-watering tie.

And it didn’t disappoint.

It promised goals and delivered them. Seven to be exact. And as City frantically reduced the deficit in the closing seconds, you wouldn’t have bet against it being 4-4 and an eight-goal thriller. We had to settle for just the seven in the end though, as Liverpool became the first team this season to come away with 3 points against Pep’s allstars.

It wasn’t a fluke either. For all their defensive frailties which have been well documented this season, Liverpool were outstanding yesterday. The fab four have become a 3 piece with the departure of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona, and they were without their £75m defender Virgil Van Dijk, but they still had too much for City, and their game plan worked perfectly.

They attacked with speed and chased and harried the City players forcing them into mistakes and disrupting their rhythm. Add to that some world class finishing and they rightly emerged victorious, even if the last couple of minutes will have seen Jurgen Klopp’s backside making buttons on the Liverpool bench!

Only a matter of weeks ago, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth looked odds on for the drop, and now look at them! They currently sit 11th, 12th and 13th in the league which is positively mid table! The jobs that all three British managers have done in terms of getting the most out of the players they have at their disposal is a great advert for our home-grown coaches. It’s still very tight and congested in the bottom half of the table and none should be complacent about their position and feel they are safe. But the way that they have fought hard and picked up the points to haul themselves away from the dreaded drop zone, is a credit to the coaching staff and players of all three.

The aforementioned Bournemouth made history yesterday by beating Arsenal for the first time in the club’s existence. No fluke and no gimmicks, they were simply the better side and fully deserved the 3 points. Eddie Howe’s men worked harder and wanted it more and that’s what upsets and angers the Arsenal fans, and not for the first time this season.

Is it finally time for a change at the Emirates and for Arsene Wenger’s 22 year reign to come to an end? There are many that think so and that number seems to be growing, with a lack of discipline being the biggest gripe amongst fans. Add to that, problems at boardroom level, where top players and hugely valuable assets to the club have been allowed to run down their contracts and subsequently leave for a fraction of their market value, seems irresponsible and naïve at best.

Their top player Alexis Sanchez didn’t travel with the club to the south coast for yesterday’s match with Bournemouth as his mind is clearly somewhere else as a transfer away from Arsenal is apparently imminent. When asked after the game where the player was heading, Arsene Wenger said he didn’t know, although I would imagine it might involve a trip up the M6.

With Mesut Ozil also packing his bags, Arsenal are nothing more than an average side with Jack Wilshere now back from his loan spell at Bournemouth of all places, and looking like their best and most influential player. I often felt that the criticism directed towards Arsene Wenger in the past was unjust, and that more respect should be given to the league’s longest serving manager, but it would seem that a change now really is needed, to halt the slide and return the North London club back to where they deserve to be.

Don’t forget to tune into ‘In On Goal’ every Friday for your weekly football fix with previews and predictions of the weekend’s Premier League action.