Arteta made five changes here, including 3 to the defensive heart of the group, although as ever with this Arsenal incarnation, the word defensive came with a string of screeching advisories as the teams began. Klopp played his finest offered XI, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain provided the most fragile of returns in this empty north London megabowl.
However sport never ever rests, and right now Klopps side have actually lost six and won 5 of their past 13 games in all competitions, keeping only three tidy sheets in the process. The last, final whistle cant come quickly enough.
Klopp will still be bothered by this defeat. The season may be almost done, a queer zombified thing going through the summer movements and Liverpool may have flattened the rest of the field.
Toolboxs Alexandre Lacazette rounds Alisson prior to scoring their very first objective. Photograph: David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty Images
But it was a likewise great spell of pushing at the other end that brought both Arsenal goals.
It was a muggy, slow, a little frenzied start from both teams. Early on Arsenal had a hard time to discover any rhythm through midfield, pushed by that hungry black-shirted double line.
Arsenal produced a stirring display of deep rearguard defence, leavened by 2 moments of slapstick from the Liverpool backline. It was enough to cause a 3rd league defeat on Jürgen Klopps team, and to provide a most unanticipated twist after another piece of protective frailty had actually left the white and red shirts a goal down after 20 minutes, and looking once again like a porous unit.
Right before the interval it was Alisson, too charming by half, who failed to carry out a dainty chip out to Robertson from his own goalmouth. Lacazette played the ball and obstructed inside for Nelson to end up nicely. Toolbox had 2 objectives from 2 shots on target and an unexpected, however well-earned lead.
Only Salah actually seemed to have the close-quarter craft needed to create a clear shot at goal out of a series of urgent but recurring Liverpool attacks.
Liverpool started the second half like a champ group with a flea in its ear. On 50 minutes there was an almighty scramble in the Arsenal box, with four thumped close-range shots engulfed by a series of blocks.
Minutes later on Mohamed Salah produced a stunning switch of feet to elude David Luizs lunge, then dinked an imaginatively developed shot that was palmed over the bar. And for long durations the video game was played not simply in Arsenals half, but in their penalty location.
All three first-half objectives in this 2-1 Arsenal triumph had originated from defensive errors set off by energetic, well-drilled forward pressing. The fact that the 2 most decisive came from Virgil van Dijk and Alisson was both a homage and a surprise to the continual defensive concentration of Mikel Artetas team, who will take great heart from this show of resilience.
With 32 minutes gone Van Dijk was so busy complaining about a small yank from Reiss Nelson he wound up playing a terrible backpass straight to Alexandre Lacazette, who took the ball past Alisson and rolled it into the internet. Van Dijk frowned and pointed and waved his arms. Even the most magnificent defenders can be rushed.
Early on Arsenal had a hard time to find any rhythm through midfield, pressed by that starving black-shirted double line.
The opening goal originated from a similar set-up. Sadio Mané nearly charged down another Martínez clearance. His punt was won back easily in midfield. Firmino played and spun in Andy Robertson. The cut-back found an unmarked Mané to score a goal that satisfied little resistance from midway line to the back of the internet.
There were even more chances for Mané and for Salah, and a run of Liverpool corners in added time. Somehow that white and red line never rather looked like being breached.
For a while it looked as though Arsenal would be swallowed up by their own weak point against this sort of pressure, with Firmino as ever a highly-skilled master of the block and the swivel-tackle.
By the end Liverpool had taken 24 chance ats objective to Arsenals 3 and spent the second half playing a violently compressed video game of all-out attack versus desperate however dogged defence.
There was some fine in extremis defending, David Luiz and Rob Holding tossing their bodies into the line. Kieran Tierney and Bukayo Saka did a fine, thorough task of holding the left side together. Only Salah actually seemed to have the close-quarter craft required to create a clear shot at goal out of a series of recurring however urgent Liverpool attacks.
Arsenal had two objectives from 2 shots on target and an unanticipated, but well-earned lead.
There will be no 100-point gloss for the champs. Arsenal produced a stirring screen of deep rearguard defence, leavened by two minutes of slapstick from the Liverpool backline. It was enough to cause a third league defeat on Jürgen Klopps group, and to offer a most unforeseen twist after another piece of protective frailty had left the white and red t-shirts an objective down after 20 minutes, and looking once again like a permeable system.
With 12 minutes gone the first chance showed up by means of a mini-blunder from Emiliano Martínez, who went to hammer the ball upfield and saw his clearance obstructed on to the beyond a post by a flying Roberto Firmino. It is still surprising how, week after week, individuals most shocked by the Arsenal defence are still the Arsenal defence.
