Liverpool thrash Arsenal 4-0 to end Gunners’ 10-game unbeaten run

Normalcy has resumed for Liverpool in the Premier League as Jurgen Klopp’s side bounced back impressively after their defeat to West Ham United, registering a thumping 4-0 victory over Arsenal at home. Anfield hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Gunners over the years – losing on each of their last five visits to Merseyside by a margin of three goals or more – and that trend continued on Saturday night as Liverpool ran riot. 

Sadio Mane opened the scoring in the first half from a set-piece before Liverpool blew Arsenal out of the water after the break, with goals from Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Takumi Minamino displaying the gulf in class between the two sides.

Arsenal entered this fixture on the back of a promising 10-game unbeaten run that lifted them to 5^th in the table, but the youthful team couldn’t cope with the relentless intensity of Liverpool at Anfield.

It was a cagey start to the game with Arsenal happy to sit back and allow the home side to dominate possession before pouncing on the counter. The encounter eventually burst into life on the back of an altercation between the two managers on the sidelines, with both Klopp and Arteta squaring up to each other after a Sadio Mane challenge on Takehiro Tomiyasu near the touchline.

The manager’s flare up sparked an increased intensity to the contest, with Liverpool upping their tempo and testing Aaron Ramsdale in the Arsenal goal with greater frequency. The deadlock was eventually broken in the 39th minute, as Sadio Mane drifted towards the far post to head home from a Trent Alexander-Arnold set piece.

Arsenal’s inexperience began to show in the second period, with Mikel Arteta’s side struggling to play out of Liverpool’s press and the left-back Nuno Tavares gifting the Reds a second goal. The Portuguese sprayed a misplaced pass straight into the feet of Diogo Jota, who wrongfooted Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale before walking the ball into the net.

Jota’s goal opened the floodgates for Liverpool, with Mohamed Salah volleying into an empty net from close-range before Takumi Minamino rounded up the victory with a fourth, scoring just 48 seconds after coming on to the pitch.

The result could have been worse for the Gunners if not for the efforts of Aaron Ramsdale, who denied Jota on two occasions in spectacular fashion to keep the scoreline respectable in the second period. With this victory, Liverpool climb back up to 2nd in the table, reducing the deficit to league-leaders Chelsea to just four points.