Chris Sutton thinks Arteta will be furious with £35m Arsenal player

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Mikel Arteta will be furious with Granit Xhaka for getting involved in a spat with Trent Alexander-Arnold just before half-time of Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool on Sunday.

That is the view of Chris Sutton, speaking to the Daily Mail after one of the most enthralling games of the season.

Arsenal came away from Merseyside with a point. It is a result which will leave them with mixed feelings after Liverpool came from 2-0 down to earn a draw. But the Gunners were largely holding on in the final moments.

A comeback certainly did not appear to be on the cards when Arsenal took a 2-0 lead. But Liverpool got a goal back just before the interval. And that came about just a couple of minutes after an incident involving Granit Xhaka and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Sutton tears into Xhaka after Arsenal draw

Xhaka was unhappy after not being given a free-kick after being felled by Ibrahima Konate. His response was to barge into Alexander-Arnold after the right-back had moved the ball on.

It was completely unnecessary from Xhaka. And it was no surprise that Alexander-Arnold responded with a shove of his own. The pair went head to head and were subsequently shown a yellow card.

The incident fired the Anfield crowd up. And few crowds have the potential to inspire a team quite like Anfield’s.

Certainly, Sutton believes that Mikel Arteta will not be at all happy with Xhaka’s actions.

“Liverpool were asleep, 2-0 down and doing nothing to encourage any noise from their supporters,” he told the Daily Mail.

“Then Granit Xhaka woke them up. Stupidly so. By barging into Trent Alexander-Arnold and then squaring up to him, he riled up the Anfield crowd.

“Their animosity was infectious and it brought this Liverpool team to life. 

“They were suddenly fuelled by fury and emerged for the second half totally up for it — all thanks to that one moment of misjudgment from Xhaka. 

“Mikel Arteta will be furious about that, I’m sure. It was totally unnecessary from Xhaka to give Liverpool a reason to stop playing so passively.”

Xhaka has silenced most of his doubters over the last 18 months. Arsenal fans had reason to write the £35 million man off before the start of last season. But he has done unbelievably well to prove people wrong.

And he has been colossal this season. So it was almost bizarre how he lost his cool with Alexander-Arnold on Sunday. He certainly seemed to revert to the old Granit Xhaka.

And you cannot argue with anyone who felt that that moment had an impact on Liverpool’s performance.