The title race in the English Premier League got a new twist on Sunday after Arsenal proved they deserved to be in it with an emphatic performance at the Emirates against Liverpool.

The Gunners have struggled down the years, especially since the Jurgen Klopp era started, and with the German manager announcing his decision to walk from the Liverpool dugout at the end of the current season, Sunday’s game became his last trip to the Emirates with the Reds.

Liverpool had to prosecute the game without Dominik Szoboszlai, who got a knock in midweek and couldn’t make the match-day squad. Youngster Connor Bradley lost his dad over the weekend; he was excused altogether, but Tiago Alcantara returned to the bench for the first time since April.

Arsenal fans were shocked to learn of Gabriel Jesus’ injury; he was replaced by Kai Havertz, and Jorginho came in for Emile Smith Rowe. Arsenal had a fast start and opened scoring in the opening quarter of the game through Bukayo Saka.

David Raya threw a long one at Gabriel Martinelli; the Brazilian had given Ibrahim Konate a torrid start, and Havertz's shot was deflected to the path of Saka, who made no mistake from the Liverpool area to hand the Gunners the lead.

Arsenal continued to probe, but it was Liverpool that settled into the game midway through the first half. It was tough for the visitors to have a sniff of the Arsenal area, but just at the end of the first half, Arsenal handed their visitors a gift.

William Saliba was shielding Luis Dias from the ball in anticipation of Raya’s intervention, but the Colombian got a foot in and diverted to the Arsenal danger area; it hit Gabriel Maghalaes on the hand and went in for an unlikely leveller.

Mikel Arteta replaced Zinchenko with Jacob Kiwior at the start of the second half, and it didn’t take long for Klopp to match the energy with the introductions of Darwin Nunez, Harvey Elliot, and Andy Robertson for the Scott man’s first game since his long-term injury.

Like Arsenal did at the end of the first half, arguably the two most reliable tools in Klopp’s workshop combined to gift Arsenal the lead again. Virgil Van Dijk and Allison both missed a long ball from Arsenal’s Maghalaes, and it fell kindly to Martinelli, who made no mistake.

Konate then saw red with two minutes left to play for malhandling. Havertz and Leandro Trossard came off the bench to complete the result with a near-post finish to make it 3-1. The win took Arsenal to just within two points of Liverpool on the log; the title race is well and truly on.