It was supposed to be the measure of how far Arsenal have come under Mikel Arteta. On the evidence of their display on Wednesday night at the Emirates, Arsenal is still a project but one moving in the right direction.
It took two quick goals in the second half for Liverpool to subdue their hosts to take all three points and move to within a point of league leaders, Manchester City, with nine matches left in the season.
In the first half, Arsenal matched Liverpool in all aspects of the game. Passion, physicality, and desire were in abundance as the Gunners pressed and gave Liverpool no time on the ball.
Klopp started Mohamed Salah on the bench after a minor injury and Diogo Jota led the line supported by Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz. Arteta named an unchanged lineup.
Virgil Van Dijk produced the first goalmouth action but his header was well saved by Aaron Ramsdale in the third minute. Arsenal went close in the eighth minute after a combination between Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
The Brazilian was a bright spot down Arsenal’s left flank and he got the better of Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 15th minute but there was no red shirt in the Liverpool box to connect home.
Tierney had to be alert to block Mane’s run in the 27th minute after the Senegalese beat the offside trap to get in behind.
Alexander-Arnold, with 16 assists already this season, released Mane with an exquisite pass on the dot of halftime but Mane blasted over the bar.
The second half was just two minutes old when Mane scored but he was offside. A defensive lapse gave Alexander Lacazette a glimpse of goal but Alisson did well to hold up the Frenchman enough for defensive reinforcements to get back in position.
Liverpool broke through from another Jota goal from a through ball from Thiago Alcantara but Arsenal goalkeeper Ramsdale will believe he should have done better at his near post.
Salah and Roberto Firmino came on for Jota and Diaz in the 56th minute and Firmino’s deft touch doubled Liverpool’s lead six minutes after his introduction.
At that point, the Emirates crowd was deflated and void of the first half energy. Liverpool held on to take all three points while Arsenal are still in the fight for the top four with the likes of Tottenham, who beat Brighton 2-0 also on Wednesday night.