Liverpool FC are the only team to claim all nine points available to them to start the 2025-26 Premier League season, and while their first encounter of the campaign against Arsenal won’t go down as an instant classic, it delivered plenty of surprises.
Between a screamer of a free kick, improved defensive displays, and a few disappointing outings, there’s plenty to unpack from a Liverpool perspective.
So, which aspects of the match were pleasantly surprising—and which left fans disappointed?
Unpleasant surprise: Alexis Mac Allister’s shift
A game to forget from the Argentinian.
While he may be granted some leeway after a minor fitness issue kept him sidelined at St. James’ Park on Monday, Macca followed this absence up with a disappointing display against Arsenal.
He was shrugged off the ball on several occasions, misplaced passes that lacked purpose, and made overall poor decisions—including opting to shoot instead of releasing the ball wide after a superb Virgil van Dijk press in Arsenal’s final third in the 32nd minute.
Again, even if it was partly precautionary, Mac Allister’s outing ended in him being yanked in the 61st minute against the Gunners—well short of his average of nearly 75 minutes per game from last season.
What makes Mac Allister’s poor outing even more frustrating is that Liverpool clearly had more to give in his area of the pitch; Curtis Jones, who replaced him, injected energy and drive into midfield, ultimately winning the foul that set up the decisive free-kick (more on that shortly).
In fact, while I noted that the No. 10 might not see as much of the ball this season compared to last, the Argentine managed just 19 completed passes in 60 minutes—a stark contrast to the 22 Jones produced in only half an hour.
Hopefully we can chalk this up to Macca working through some kinks to return to peak fitness, but his showing was not worthy of a place in the Starting XI today.
Pleasant surprise: Back-to-back MOTM performances by RB Szoboszlai
I’ve long been a believer in Szoboszlai, but after his start to the season, I’m confident in sharing this “hot take”: Liverpool have a genuine world-class player in the Hungarian.
Forced once again into the unnatural role of right full-back with Jeremie Frimpong sidelined, Szoboszlai followed up his rock-solid defensive display against Newcastle with another standout performance at the back versus Arsenal—finishing with two successful tackles, six clearances, and a perfect 100% aerial duel success rate to keep Garbiel Martinelli quiet for the lion’s share of match.
As much as fans should admire his selfless defensive work, Szoboszlai once again reminded everyone of his attacking brilliance against Arsenal as well.
Building on his clever dummy that freed the ball for Ngumoha’s winner on last Monday, Szobo delivered one of the most audacious free kicks the Premier League has seen in some time—thundering it past David Raya from over 30 yards out to send Anfield into delirium.
With the match locked at 0-0 in a cagey, defense-first battle, it was always going to take a flash of individual brilliance to break the deadlock—and in the game’s biggest moment, the Hungarian delivered.
When asked about Florian Wirtz’s arrival on Merseyside earlier this summer, Szoboszlai stated confidently, “I don’t give up my place that easily.” Between Wirtz’s slow start in the Premier League and Szobo’s back-to-back Man of the Match performances, Liverpool’s No. 8 is making it clear to Arne Slot that he deserves a consistent spot in the team.
Unpleasant surprise: Lack of potency on the wings
Mohamed Salah found ways to make contributions in the Reds’ first two matches—scoring a late fourth goal against Bournemouth and providing an even later assist versus Newcastle—after underwhelming performances by his standards in both contests.
However, the Egyptian King was largely invisible for 90 minutes again against Arsenal, failing to register a goal or assist, and extending an overall slow start to his season.
For whatever reason, Salah’s first touch seemed off on multiple occasions against the Gunners, and he appeared to rush several passes—completing just 60% on Sunday.
He also uncharacteristically lost possession 15 times, compounding a lackadaisical outing.
Salah also struggled to spark the kind of magic in the box we’ve come to expect, unlike his displays against Bournemouth and Newcastle, completing just seven touches inside Arsenal’s penalty area.
I thought Cody Gakpo delivered a relatively brighter performance, showcasing his signature move of cutting from left to right inside the box on a few occasions.
Yet beyond that, his impact was limited: just one successful dribble, one shot on target, and an expected assist of 0.01. Alongside Salah, Liverpool’s wingers were largely absent from much of the action at Anfield.
Their outing is even more discouraging considering that William Saliba, one of the league’s top centre backs, went down in the first five minutes of the game, opening the door for the Liverpool attack to pounce.
Yes, the hallmark of a championship side is finding the back of the net by any means necessary; but, had Szoboszlai not unleashed that rocket of a strike and secured the win, Liverpool would have been left questioning how their attack could look so quiet against Arsenal after netting seven goals in their first two league matches.
Pleasant surprise: Greatly improved displays from Konate and Kerkez
That’s more like it, Ibou!
One of Liverpool’s most glaring vulnerabilities in the opening two games was Ibrahima Konate's shaky form.
While Arsenal surely took note, the Frenchman delivered a rock-solid performance against the Gunners, recording two crucial clearances and a perfect 100% aerial duel win rate, helping post a clean sheet and keeping threats like Viktor Gyökeres and Declan Rice at bay.
He had to be taken off in the 80th minute with a knock, and hopefully the upcoming international break gives Ibou time to recover.
While Arsenal weren’t particularly threatening for much of the game on Sunday, he finally showed glimpses of the rock-solid form he displayed last season—though bringing in Marc Guehi as additional defensive reinforcement still seems like a wise move.
Perhaps even more impressive at the back was Milos Kerkez, who kept Noni Madueke brilliantly in check.
By the end, the Arsenal winger appeared to give up trying to get past him, settling instead for flicks off Kerkez that resulted in corner kicks.
The Hungarian finished with the most tackles on the team (3) and won all five of his ground duels in a performance that could be a breakthrough for his time in Red.
I’m still waiting to see Kerkez surge forward and create attacking threats like he often did at Bournemouth, but with defense taking center stage in this match, I was overall very pleased with both his and Ibou’s finest defensive displays of the season so far.