Prior to Arsenal's clash with Liverpool on Sunday Mikel Arteta warned his players that they would be heading into the jungle at Anfield. When it comes to the Gunners squad there are few players better versed in the ways of the wild than Granit Xhaka.
The Swiss international's fiery reputation precedes him. In six years with Arsenal, he has been sent off five times. Death, taxes and controversial incidents involving Xhaka seem to be the only certainties in this world, and on Sunday he was thrust into the heart of a storm once again.
For the first 40 minutes Arsenal were spectacular. On a ground where they had not won since Gangnam Style was topping the charts, goals from Gabriels Jesus and Martinelli had put them on course to dance their way towards a statement victory in the Premier League title race. Then it happened.
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Having felt he was fouled by Ibrahima Konate, Xhaka shot up and went careering into Trent Alexander-Arnold long after the ball had gone. The England international retaliated, the pair squared up, and an Anfield that had previously seemed dormant suddenly erupted into noise. That's what the narrative led by the likes of Jamie Carragher has become at least. In reality, though, the black warning clouds had been hanging above for a while already.
On this Easter Sunday clash Xhaka was certainly no angel, but it was arguably Jesus who was the Gunners' biggest sinner. The Brazilian's playacting had left 54,000 home supporters wanting to strike down upon him with great vengeance and furious anger long before the Xhaka flashpoint. Gabriel and Aaron Ramsdale had also incurred the wrath of the home fans for receiving lengthy treatment for injuries, while even Arsenal's choirboy Bukayo Saka had got under the skin by kicking the ball away when flagged offside.
The clash didn't make Ben White run out of position or force Thomas Partey to lose his runner in the build-up to a first Liverpool goal that even Jurgen Klopp admitted was a touch fortunate. Xhaka didn't cause Alex Zinchenko's lax approach to defending Alexander-Arnold's cross in the build-up to Roberto Firmino's equaliser either.
Pointing this out is not necessarily to inspire a pile on on these players as well, but instead to show that Xhaka's rumble in the Anfield jungle has probably been over-indexed as a reason for the turnaround. Speaking in his post-match press conference Arteta - who himself was accused of being something an alarm clock for Liverpool's sleeping supporters in last season's corresponding clash - certainly seemed to concur.
"I don’t know if that’s the case," the Spaniard said when asked if the game swung on the incident. "We had a big chance after that. If we score 3-0 maybe the crowd doesn’t get too excited. After that, they scored the goal and that changed the momentum and the hope."
The reality is that Anfield is an almost incalculably tough place to get a result from. Arsene Wenger once described it as "the most heated stadium in Europe" and it does not take an awful lot to fan flames.
Arsenal needed an Easter miracle to come back to north London with all three points, and despite Ramsdale's best efforts, one was not forthcoming. The title is still technically in their hands, although City's friendlier fixture list does now look increasingly ominous. Regardless of where the Premier League trophy ends up though, it's certainly not Granit Xhaka's scuffle with Trent Alexander-Arnold that will be the deciding factor.
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