I’ve already written that Arsenal epitomise the perfect team no one wants to play in this gritty, aggressive league and against Liverpool at the weekend, they showcased why.

Sure, Liverpool may have spent lots of time in Arsenal’s half or close to being camped out near their box for large periods.

But ultimately, when the Reds went 1-0 down – and Arsenal activated ‘lockdown mode’ – there really wasn’t much Liverpool could do.

An expensive, lavish attack came up short in threatening Arsenal’s goal despite them chasing after Kai Havertz’s excellent opener early on.

You have to admire Arsenal’s defensive masterclass and their incredible ability to manipulate time as 65 minutes turns to 85, and you’re not sure how much football has been played.

Still, there are several key factors for us to analyse as the Gunners claimed their first Anfield win in 14 years. Even beyond 16 Conclusions…

Liverpool transform into Cross FC

A staggering 18 crosses were attempted by Liverpool in the first half. Bar Milos Kerkez setting up Alexis Mac Allister for a point-blank header, Arsenal gobbled up the rest of the deliveries.

When Liverpool got into promising positions, it was their expensive frontline that let them down.

The first half was actually played at a pace that would have suited Andoni Iraola’s team: end to end and direct. But I lost count of the number of times Cody Gakpo or Bradley Barcola had space to attack on the wings and failed to put it on a plate for an attacker.

The one time where Barcola did find Alexander Isak, the Swede miraculously decided to dummy the ball and leave it for someone else.

It was so tough for Liverpool to create wide overlaps or underlaps because there was always an Arsenal player coming over to help cover. Be it an attacker or defender.

It meant Liverpool had to resort to just prodding it into the box countless times, and it was astounding how few times Liverpool got on the end of those crosses.

The substitutions that changed the match
Even if Liverpool couldn’t find the final ball at the very least, Trey Nyoni ensured that they could find gaps wide to get into those positions in the first place.

Paired with Mac Allister, the Englishman received from defence well before finding gaps wide to bypass Arsenal’s midfield.

But everything changed when Dominik Szoboszlai came on for him as Liverpool seemed to lose control and resorted to needlessly hoofing the ball up front as opposed to smoothly getting their wingers involved in the game.

Meanwhile, Arsenal turned to Myles Lewis-Skelly, who began to exert more control in the match just when Mikel Arteta’s men needed a breather.

On around 60 minutes, as Arsenal bought fouls and frustrated a Liverpool side that got more agitated as the game wore on, Lewis-Skelly got hold of the ball, and Arsenal’s spell of possession helped to take the sting out of the game.

Arsenal are the masters of running the clock down and managing a game; it’s a skill almost no other team in the league has.

They protect leads not just by defending their box but also in a mischievously smart manner which riles the opponent.

The great wall of Arsenal
I’m forced week in, week out to watch a Manchester United team where you question the effort. That cannot be said for this Arsenal team.

It doesn’t matter who comes on, it doesn’t matter about their supposed position…they are all prepared to put it in defensively.

Liverpool may have parked three attackers to occupy Arsenal’s defensive line – which is why they crossed it so much – but so many situations in the game occurred where Liverpool would have the ball in the box and just be crowded out.

They didn’t have much of an option in the first place but to go wide and then flood the box, but because of the way Arsenal commit to the cause, even when ‘chaotic’ situations develop, say from a cross that is knocked down by a big defender (Ronald Araujo or Virgil Van Dijk), there were too many Arsenal bodies in the way.

Iraola could see what was happening and opted for more width and brought on Rio Ngumoha, but with Arsenal’s forwards dropping back, they simply doubled up on the winger and marked the inside runs.

Liverpool v Arsenal conclusion
Liverpool are headed in the right direction and will be furious at the manner in which they’ve lost to Man City and Arsenal at home by not making more use of the ball. A lot of the blame in both matches falls on their misfiring, expensive attacking line.

But Arsenal got ahead early on by riskily playing through their press, and when this Arsenal team go 1-0 ahead, even when it looks like a team is threatening them, Arteta’s men are the ones in control.

It was a masterful defensive performance, a typical tough away win for the Champions.

It may also be the one match that begins to see them pull away in the title race.