A frenetic, classic type of battle unfolded at Anfield, ultimately ending in disappointment for the Reds who saw a glimpse of their former selves in Arsenal.

Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal

Goal: Havertz 16′

Officiating inadequate and spineless, unbefitting of a top Premier League clash

This is a cream of the crop fixture for English football, the two most recent title winners of the toughest league in the entire sport. And the officiating was a sorry, inconsistent mess.

What’s more, it happens far too often. The Premier League insists it cares so much about building its brand and elevating its status, it seems to be forgetting about the actual matters on the pitch.

‘The product’, as it’s so nauseatingly referred to by the suits in charge, is supposed to reign supreme. But this same ‘product’ here was full of cowardice officiating, bizarre implementation of unworkable rulings and disjointed throughout.

Alexander Isak’s pulled shirt not being looked at by VAR was laughable, an exhibit-A example as to how the technology and those guiding it are simply far too out of sync.

Milos Kerkez would later be handed a full minute off the pitch after taking a knock to the head, a rule implemented with the avoidance of time-wasting in mind. Liverpool then had to regroup on the counter, with possession, with one of their key wide outlets stood simply watching.

As the climax of the fixture reached, Viktor Gyokeres outwardly blocked Dominik Szoboszlai on the edge of the penalty area. The Arsenal man has all the grace and spacial awareness of a tug boat, but referee Andy Madley clearly decided he would turn momentarily blind and not give anything.

The new ref-cam first person view highlighted how much of a ridiculous decision this was. Just one of many. The Premier League needs to do much, much better or what is the point in anyone bothering with any of this?

Liverpool got a glimpse of their former selves in Arsenal

This Arsenal game plan was straight out of the playbook of Liverpool of old. The Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp which did such a solid job of squeezing exactly what they needed from a fixture. Not exactly pretty, but it rarely matters.

This isn’t a direct comparison, the pinnacle Klopp version of Liverpool would hammer this Arsenal side, but Mikel Arteta has gleaned some very valuable pointers from his former rival in the dug-out.

We saw it oh so often, Liverpool going to a tough way ground and slicing through to get a smash-and-grab goal on the counter, only to then shut up shop and plug all the gaps come what may. That was where the likes of James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho came into their own. They could make games ugly and get the three points.

Arsenal managed that here, irrespective of Liverpool storming back into the fixture strongly. Liverpool begun to look better across all the metrics, but the most telling however was the shots on target. The Reds couldn’t find a single one, despite looking well worth the money to get back into proceedings.

It’s never easy to win at Anfield, and this is exactly how Arsenal wanted their match to unfold.

Alexander Isak needs to find some needle and get a nasty edge

As Jamie Carragher rightly pointed out, Isak should not have to make a huge song and dance about the crucial pull on his shirt by Jurrien Timber inside the six yard box. VAR should be right there, but we’ve long since established VAR is not fit for purpose.

So, make a scene. A huge scene. Kick up a fuss Isak, give the referee no option but to be alarmed that something major has just occurred. It feels bizarre that a world class striker wouldn’t want to do this, to be very honest.

Think of all the great, ruthless strikers. Almost all of them had a bit of an evil, or at the very least a nasty streak, in common. That needle, that bit of natural aggression just waiting to spill out at any and every injustice.

Is Erling Haaland simply turning his nose up at Timber like Isak did, before quietly going about the rest of his day? Absolutely not. Isak may feel that this element of play isn’t in his nature, but unfortunately it has to be. Get over it.

Elite strikers never take no for an answer. This isn’t to say he has to become a bonafide maniac like Luis Suarez or Diego Costa, even a bit of bite in the mirror image of Fernando Torres would suffice. Isak needs to have a word with himself.

Removal of Nyoni changed momentum

Young Nyoni has been right up there with Jeremy Jacquet as Liverpool’s breakthrough superstar of the season no doubt, but he took time to settle into this one.

Understandable, he’s 19 and being handed a start against the reigning champions. It’s big pressure, and he later looked more composed as the game wore on.

But the opening stages let Arsenal in, ultimately costing Liverpool the match. Nyoni’s early ankle scrape on Kai Havertz seemed to get into his head a bit. The Gunners were moving too quickly around him and the teenager knew he was very lucky not to receive a card, which could have been red.

It left him a tad apprehensive and disjointed, and Arsenal took full advantage. Liverpool spent the opening 15 minutes surrendering the midfield battle, and you cannot afford to do that against this team.

However, he grew into the game and his eventual removal saw Liverpool lose momentum, whether due to his absence or the changes made by Iraola.

Andoni Iraola is showing Liverpool 2.0 and the signs are still promising

Before kick-off Sky Sports presenter Patrick Davison grilled Iraola on whether he was going to subject Arsenal to misery again, given he’d had such joy against them with his former club Bournemouth.

The Liverpool boss took the compliment but rightly corrected the record quickly, stating that he was in charge of a much different team now. Iraola outlined that he could take some of the winning methods from Bournemouth, but it is never going to be a straight copy and paste.

And we saw that here. Liverpool looked slow with their thinking at times, even though the attempts were rife to keep the ball moving fast. There were however further signs that this team is still developing and progressing in its approach, most prominently the high line of the back two.

Virgil van Dijk and Jacquet were relentlessly sat perched in the centre circle with Liverpool in possession, predominantly in the period approaching half time when Liverpool truly got a strong grip on the game again.

It felt very Iraola, shimmers of Bournemouth. The high sitting of two imposing defenders helped the ball move swiftly out wide and down through the channels. The introduction of Victor Munoz at full back further reinforced how much the manager benefits having raw pace across all positions on the flank.

It points to Ronald Araujo unlikely remaining as right back for the long term future, but these little idiosyncrasies of Liverpool are building now and giving a flavour as to how the team will consistently operate going forward.