Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal: Mikel Arteta's conservative approach ends in more Anfield misery

Arsenal flagged up the early heavyweight confrontation with Premier League champions Liverpool at Anfield with the social media message: "Make a statement."

The game was billed as a meeting between the club that wears the crown and the pretenders whose recent attempts to win the title have ended in the bitter disappointment of falling short.

After Dominik Szoboszlai's brilliant 83rd-minute free-kick gave Liverpool victory, it is tough to escape the suspicion that the cloak of caution Arteta draped over Arsenal makes this a significant missed opportunity to secure a landmark - albeit very rare - Anfield victory.

Arsenal, on this ultra-conservative evidence, failed to read the pre-match memo.

No-one expects manager Arteta to order his players to throw the kitchen sink at Liverpool in their Anfield fortress, but this was a Gunners' display that seemed designed to get a point but ended with nothing.

Arteta has been handed the weapons to cure that shortfall as the biggest net spenders of the transfer window so far, with deals totalling £248m.

Chief among them was, finally, the acquisition of a recognised striker in Viktor Gyokeres - signed from Portuguese giants Sporting for £64m - then, most eye-catching of all, the coup that saw Arsenal snatch Eberechi Eze away from Tottenham Hotspur in a £60m move from Crystal Palace.

The pressure is on Arteta to finally end a barren era of five years without a trophy after that backing - and this means the big prizes of the Premier League or Champions League.

Arsenal ended up losing a dour, largely colourless, encounter - two teams showing each other huge respect until Szoboszlai curved a magnificent direct free-kick past David Raya from 30 yards.

They rarely troubled a Liverpool defence that has looked vulnerable even in victory in their first two league games against Bournemouth and Newcastle United.

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