Andoni Iraola turned to Rio Ngumoha, Dominik Szoboszlai and Victor Munoz late on against Arsenal, revealing he altered Liverpool’s approach in search of a specific route to goal.

Liverpool finished the match against Arsenal without a shot on target, the first time in 442 Premier League games at Anfield.

Iraola’s side managed 48 touches in the visitors’ box and amassed 17 shots from 10 different players, but none tested David Raya.

In search of a different dynamic in the final third, Iraola turned to Ngumoha, Szoboszlai and Munoz late on, explaining he was seeking to test Arsenal from outside the box.

The introduction of the Hungarian, however, notably upset the balance of the midfield with Trey Nyoni no longer on the pitch, but the head coach rolled the dice.

“I decided to finish with Rio, with Victor, even putting Dom, to see if we could maybe score from one shot outside the box, score in different ways,” he told reporters post-match.

“We had a lot of set-pieces, and we were not able to score from there, and they were very good defensively in the second half.”

Liverpool lacked a clinical edge – owed to the Gunners’ stubborn defending – and while more needs to be demanded of the forwards, the signs remain positive under Iraola.

“I’ve loved the reaction of the team. Even in the first half, I think we reacted really well and put Arsenal under big pressure,” the head coach added.

“I think from when we conceded the goal until half-time, we had very good moments, a very good 30 minutes. It looked quite close, a goal.

“We’ve put them under pressure, we’ve put them inside the box, we’ve put them there, but we haven’t had the clarity to finish the situations better.”

Liverpool finished the match with 14 shots from inside the box – and just three from outside. A total of seven were attempted after Szoboszlai’s introduction in the 59th minute.