The Reds were beaten for only the second time this season as Kai Havertz’s first-half effort separated the teams.

There were large spells of superiority for Andoni Iraola’s men at Anfield but they could not translate them into a vital goal.

Nyoni retained his place in the XI from the prior Carabao Cup win over Chelsea, for what was his first start at Premier League level.

09:57

Highlights: LFC 0-1 Arsenal

Having featured for an hour, the midfielder gave his post-match reaction to Liverpoolfc.com. Read a summary below.

On the disappointment of getting nothing from the game…

Of course, we’re always disappointed if we lose a game. I think we had enough chances to score. Obviously we’re disappointed to not score. Overall in the game it was quite positive, we did what we had to do. But ultimately, it’s fine margins at this level and we got punished. Next time we need to start the game a lot better.

On Liverpool’s strong response after falling behind…

With the attacking quality we have, we expected to make a lot of chances and I think we did that. But like I said before, the game is fine margins – if you don’t take your chances, you’ll get punished.

On making his first Premier League start in such a big match…

Obviously I was excited. I just tried to go out there and do what I do, tried to get on the ball as much as possible and bring the team forwards. Obviously I’m happy but we still wanted to win, so there’s also that – which is the most important thing.

On whether there was a slight change in his role to push higher up the pitch…

The manager is just trying me in different positions and allowing me to develop. In a game like this it was a big responsibility so I had to be ready at all costs.

On taking learnings from coming up against this level of opposition…

You always learn a lot from playing games and being in these scenarios. Ultimately, that’s where you want to be. It has been a positive week [for me] but we’ve got the game on Wednesday now we need to try to win.

On there being a feeling of progress in the team…

One hundred per cent. We were unlucky on the day but towards the end we tried to give everything. It wasn’t our day, it can happen. We have to move on and think about the next game now and put it right.