By Chris Harris at Anfield
WHAT HAPPENED
Our winning start to the season was ended abruptly by an impressive Liverpool side.
Joel Matip's header and a Mohamed Salah double did the damage before Lucas Torreira's late strike, but despite the result this was a sizeable improvement on our last visit to Anfield.
We were set up to absorb pressure and hit Liverpool on the break, and for a long while the gameplan worked.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang latched onto a mishit clearance from Adrian to lob the ball just wide of the target, Nicolas Pepe curled an effort just beyond the top corner, and our record signing shot straight at Adrian when one on one with the Liverpool goalkeeper.
All very promising, but that was as good as it got.
Having seen off a string of menacing deliveries from the flanks, we couldn't deal with Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner and Matip thumped a header past Bernd Leno.
That was a hammer blow just before the break and we suffered another one just after the restart.
David Luiz tugged Salah's shirt as he tried to latch onto a deft flick from the outstanding Roberto Firmino, and Salah scored from the resulting penalty.
The Egypt star made the game safe 11 minutes later, turning away from David Luiz and finding the bottom corner.
Torreira pulled a goal back with a low finish after good work from Aubameyang, but it was no more than a consolation.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Get the full story of our trip to Anfield with our play-by-play updates
THREE THINGS WE NOTICED
See what we learned from Saturday's defeat on Merseyside
WHAT IT MEANS
TEAM NEWS
Unai Emery made two changes from the win over Burnley - Pepe came in for Alex Lacazette and Granit Xhaka returned from injury to replace Reiss Nelson.
We lined up with a back four and a narrow four-man midfield, with Aubameyang and Pepe up front.
WHAT’S NEXT
Our final game before the International break is a massive one - Tottenham at Emirates Stadium next Sunday.
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