Cesc Fabregas = too good

Despite the draw this weekend, I was not disappointed by the Liverpool/Arsenal game. Both teams had something to prove this Sunday and it was apparent that some top-flight football...er, soccer... was in full effect. Gerrard was playing like a man on fire and I felt like Liverpool had come to terms with their previous mid-field and defensive shortcomings of late with inspired appearances by Alonso, Carragher, and Mascherano. The formation was unique to LFC and it was obvious that Benitez wanted to try out some more aggressive attacking football. The rub, however, was the high amount of injury in the game, four to be exact. The substitution of the injured Alonso for the defender Arbeloa was ultimately a poor decision. He lost possession more times than he should have and ultimately played as if he was out of position. Which he was. I was pseudo-pissed, expecting the last substitution to be Ryan Babel.

Liverpool remained the better side for most of the game. It seemed Arsenal was revitalized by the addition of Theo Walcott and the persistence of Kolo Toure. Although, at the end of the day it all came down to Cesc Fabregas' performance. He has been stellar this season as the leader of Arsenals 'new school'. All and all a great game.
But Fernando Torres is hurt, and that royally sucks for LFC. At least they still have a game in hand, even though they seem to have dethroned Fulham's reign as 'draw-specialists'. This has been a close season so far. What the hell? I thought Arsenal would be struggling to stay up and Liverpool would be unbeaten by now... so it goes.