Arsenal played like a team promoted from the Championship in loss to Liverpool as Mikel Arteta apologises

Arsenal’s playing style against Liverpool has been likened to that of a team just promoted from the Championship.

The Gunners were in dreadful form against the reigning Premier League champions on Saturday night and subsequently lost 3-0 at the Emirates.

The north Londoners barely laid a glove on their opponents and managed just three shots all game as Jurgen Klopp’s side had the lion’s share of possession for large swathes of the clash.

The loss leaves Arsenal ninth in the Premier League table and their hopes of making it into European competition next season now seem to hinge on their progress in the Europa League.

And the manner of the defeat, especially not long after their dismal first-half display in the 3-3 draw with West Ham, hasn’t gone down well with supporters.

Manager Mikel Arteta even said sorry for his side’s showing.

“Liverpool completely deserved to win the game, probably by a bigger margin. We were extremely poor. We apologise,” he told Sky Sports.

“They made the right decisions, we didn’t. It is my fault,” he added, as he shielded players from any blame.

“I have to set the team up to perform in a different way and that is it.

“Arsenal have been most confusing team to me all season,” Tony Cascarino told talkSPORT on Sunday morning.

“They have had some great highs and unbelievable lows. [The Liverpool result] was an incredible low. [Dani] Ceballos in midfield was awful, they gave away the ball too often and couldn’t lay a glove on Liverpool at all.

“They play a style that is more like a team that has come up from the Championship at times, not all the time – West Ham away they started like that where they were 3-0 down and ended up trying to get back and be far more aggressive – yesterday they played like a team that had come up.”