Not since Mikel Arteta was playing for the Gunners had they taken all three points back to North London after a trip to the red half of Merseyside, and with five of the previous 10 fixtures being drawn, this match was clearly going to be one of the visitors' more difficult assignments.
Just one change for Liverpool
Perhaps in view of that, the Spaniard had made five changes to his starting XI, whilst childhood friend Andoni Iraola had made just one, albeit a hugely significant one.
Trey Nyoni replaced Ryan Gravenberch in what was his first start for Liverpool, and given the importance and standing of the game, Nyoni's inclusion as a defensive midfielder signified just how well thought of he is inside the club.
Opposite number Declan Rice, the de facto best English defensive midfielder in the country, was surely going to give his contemporary a baptism of fire.
Certainly, Nyoni and his Liverpool colleagues hadn't got going before Kai Havertz had put Arsenal into the lead thanks to Rice's assist. To that point in the game, the Gunners had seen 69% of the ball; virtually unheard of for an away side at Anfield.
No losses in 18 after scoring first
Though there were still 75 minutes to play, the North Londoners had avoided defeat in their previous 18 league matches when scoring first.
Rice quickly had an on-target effort himself as he began to dictate proceedings from the middle of the park, though as Nyoni started to ease into the game, his lack of respect for his direct opponents was a mark of a player that's destined to go far in the game.
There wasn't a sign of the 19-year-old being overawed or cowed by the magnitude of the match, and the winning back of possession on four separate occasions was actually one better than Rice managed during the game.
The Reds were certainly on top for the remainder of the first half, with Florian Wirtz's effort against the woodwork one of eight that Liverpool had managed before the break, albeit none were on target.
Midfield generals
Rice, a one-man wrecking ball to the hosts' forays upfield at times, still managed to have three efforts of his own, more than anyone else on the pitch in the opening 45 minutes.
It's that ability to break forward and support Arsenal's attack that puts Rice head and shoulders above any other midfielders in the Premier League at present, and though it seemed impossible, he's turned into a £100m bargain for the Gunners.
Liverpool's 71% possession in the opening quarter hour of the second half owed much to Nyoni's confidence. Indeed, by the time he was substituted in the 58th minute, his pass accuracy of 96.4% was the best return of any player on the pitch.
Not only that, but he'd also made 14 line-breaking passes and completed 53 passes, both of which also couldn't be bettered. Not even by eventual man-of-the-match Rice.
Having also won 100% of his tackles, Nyoni couldn't really have done too much more to impress.
Stunning defensive performance from Arsenal
Unfortunately for him and his colleagues, try as they might, they weren't able to breach the Arsenal defensive wall, which was marshalled superbly by Gabriel Magalhaes, and made even harder to get at thanks to an all-action display from Rice, who sat just in front of the back four.
To give an idea as to just how effective he and they were, Arsenal stopped Liverpool from having a single shot on target at Anfield in a league game for the first time since records began.
No wonder that Arteta couldn't hold in his emotions at full-time, for this was a collective performance of real value.
Gunners have put down a marker
The winning of a game at Anfield will be celebrated, of course, but it's the wider marker that it's put down for the rest of the league to take notice of that will be just as satisfying.
The Gunners are once again the team to beat, and though Brighton comprehensively did so not so long ago, that performance has been shown to be a one-off.
Any club earning three points out of this Arsenal side will have been made to sweat blood and tears to do so, and that's testament to how well Arteta has built his squad over the past few years.
Trusting the process was once mocked as a soundbite without purpose. No one is mocking Arsenal now.
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Jason Pettigrove has been the features writer for Flashscore since 2025, utilising Opta data to form the basis of his articles. He has previously worked for high-profile football clubs, news and media outlets, both in print and digital, and can usually be found watching FC Barcelona when time permits. You can read more of his pieces here.
