Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted his side “need to find a way to win big matches” after their hunt for a first win at Anfield for nearly 13 years goes on following a 1-0 defeat on Sunday.
The Gunners were beaten by reigning Premier League champions Liverpool courtesy of a sublime Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick that ended the visitors’ perfect start to the season.
Going into the contest, Arteta’s defence had not yet been breached this term but they were undone by the Hungarian’s 30-yard strike that dipped and swerved beyond a helpless David Raya in goal.
It proved to be the difference in what was a cagey game of few real chances between the title holders and the side many believe are favourites to take their crown.
Arne Slot’s side found a way to come out on top; a characteristic the Arsenal boss is keen to instil in his squad.
“You cannot dominate here [Anfield] for 95 minutes, it’s impossible,” Arteta told Sky Sports.
“You’re going to go through those moments. We navigated without conceding anything but at the end you need to find a way to win the big matches.
“A lot of times individual moments decide it and unfortunately that was an unbelievable free-kick.”
“You have to put the ball in the back of the net. We were much better than last year when we drew the game. Today we have 3, 4, 5 situations inside the box 1v1. You have to put the ball in the net if you want to win.”
Despite his frustrations, the Gunners boss was quick to praise the response of his players after losing key personnel to injury in recent weeks.
Arteta added: “We lost Martin [Odegaard], we lost Kai [Havertz] then we lost Bukayo [Saka] the week before. In the warm up you lose [William] Saliba.
“It impacts you but I’m really proud of the players and how they reacted. The margin was almost zero.”
Next up for Arsenal after the international break is the visit of Nottingham Forest to the Emirates on 13 September.
Liverpool, meanwhile, travel to newly promoted Burnley on 14 September.
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