The statistic emerged midway through the second half. Liverpool, it transpired as they huffed and puffed, had not had a shot on target against Arsenal since Dominik Szoboszlai’s outrageous free-kick when they last met at Anfield – on August 31, 2025.

They had run into a red-and-white wall on a blisteringly cold night at the Emirates Stadium in January but the barrier was even more formidable back on Merseyside. Liverpool managed to fire in 34 crosses and had 48 touches in Arsenal’s penalty area, but nothing came to pass.

“I want to give credit to Liverpool,” Mikel Arteta said, exhaling wearily. “They are a top side. It didn’t feel like they didn’t have a shot on target. They are a team that shoots a lot. But it was the commitment of every single player to make [the defensive] action.

“We knew we were going to have to suffer. Liverpool are so good at creating those vertical attacks and they can punish you.”

Arteta was understandably buoyant, having won at this stadium for the first time as a manager, but it was possible to wonder whether he was able to be so gushing about Liverpool because, deep down, he knows they will not be a threat to Arsenal’s aspirations this season.

There has been a lot of debate in the past few days about whether Liverpool could emerge from the shadows to become a player in the title race, like one of those horses that creeps away at the back of a big race before looming into the heat of battle with three obstacles to jump.

Debate it no more. Liverpool are not the finished article, by any stretch of the imagination, and here were 90 minutes that illustrated why. Yes, there have been shoots of promise, but nothing to make you think they are on the cusp of the finished article.

They could have played until next Sunday and not managed to force a save from David Raya, so obdurate and organised was Arsenal’s defence. And while plenty of other teams will experience similar frustrations against the defending champions, there is something more to it for Liverpool.

Have a look at the Premier League table, specifically the “goals for” column. Arsenal (14) do not have an impressive tally, but when you are so adept at winning 1-0, their supporters will not be complaining at this particular juncture.

But then examine those below: Manchester City (20), Brighton (24), Chelsea (19), Brentford (16), Bournemouth (14)… Liverpool are the only member of the top seven to have not scored at least 14 goals. Their tally is jarring – 11 goals in nine matches.

Alexander Isak has been doing his bit this season, with six goals that have been worth seven points. He might have made another significant contribution here, had Jurrien Timber not grabbed at his shirt as he shaped to head in from six yards. Cody Gakpo has been a bright light, too.

More needed from Barcola and Wirtz

Andoni Iraola and Gakpo, however, need more from others – much more. Bradley Barcola had a flurry when he scored a hat-trick against Linz in the Champions League last month, but he has yet to find the target in the Premier League and not even his biggest fan would say this was his finest hour.

Similarly, Florian Wirtz flitted in and out of the shadows. Inches away with a free-kick that thudded against the bar in the first half, the German playmaker was suffocated in the second period, continually sent down yellow-and-blue cul-de-sacs.

It would be wrong to hold those two men as emblems because Liverpool have found goals hard to come by domestically but, equally, when the pressure is at its highest – as when the league leaders roll into town – that is when they need to provide inspiration.

The hosts had plenty of perspiration and there is quality in key areas. Jérémy Jacquet, for instance, is yet to put a foot out of place and each measured performance shows why Anfield’s recruitment team were right to step away from their pursuit of Marc Guéhi in January.

The stardust is applied, though, at the other end of the pitch. There will not be many occasions when they come up against a back four and midfield that works with the synchronicity of a Swiss clock, but if they are going to make sustained progress, the shots are going to have to start having to be on target and going in.