Mohamed Salah has now scored three times this season for Liverpool in the Premier League
Liverpool maintained their place at the top of the Premier League and their 100% start to the season as Arsenal were well beaten at Anfield.
The Gunners, the only other side in the top flight to win their first two games, had opportunities to shock Liverpool in a tight first half, especially when record £72m signing Nicolas Pepe shot straight at keeper Adrian after running clear.
Liverpool took control when Joel Matip put them ahead with a powerful header from Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner four minutes before the interval.
And any hopes manager Unai Emery had of watching his side mount a recovery were snuffed out in the 49th minute after a moment of madness from new signing David Luiz, who needlessly dragged Mohamed Salah back in the area.
Liverpool's Egyptian attacker drilled home the penalty and then embarrassed Luiz again out on the touchline at the start of a dazzling run that ended with a low, curling finish into the bottom corner just before the hour.
Arsenal substitute Lucas Torreira pulled one back late on, but nothing was getting in the way of Liverpool's 12th successive Premier League victory, equalling their best sequence in the top flight under Kenny Dalglish between April and October 1990.
Liverpool back in the old routine
Liverpool had moments when they stuttered against Southampton and their defence has looked unusually fallible - but this was a movie we have seen many times before at Anfield under Jurgen Klopp.
Arsenal have suffered badly here in recent seasons, losing 5-1 last season and 4-0 in Arsene Wenger's final season. Once again, despite taking their time to hit top gear, Liverpool's ruthlessness and intensity simply proved too much for Arsenal.
True, they gratefully accepted Luiz's gifts but once Matip put Liverpool ahead the pressure and intensity applied to Arsenal was simply too much for the Gunners to resist.
And, as Arsenal discovered, when you fail to take chances to punish Liverpool, the inevitable outcome is that you will be punished yourselves.
Liverpool do not simply have a prodigious work ethic that makes life permanently uncomfortable for opponents; they also have world-class attacking options as illustrated by Salah's brilliant weaving run and slide-rule finish for their third.
Klopp's side missed out on the title by a single point despite only one loss, to champions Manchester City, last season - and three wins from three has quickly put the marker down that they intend to go one better and claim that first title in 30 years.
Liability Luiz kills Arsenal chances
Luiz has a track record of success that suggests he may be able to bring moments of quality to Arsenal's defence after his surprise £8m move from Chelsea - but there is no escaping he has the enduring capability to be a complete liability.
The Brazilian, at 32, is not going to change and so it proved as he delivered a moment of crass stupidity that killed stone dead Arsenal's hopes of taking anything away from Anfield.
It is a stretch to say Arsenal had Liverpool on the ropes but, despite the overall domination of the European champions, the Gunners certainly had moments of threat through the pace and menace of Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. They would have started the second half with hope.
Luiz made it all count for nothing when he felt his best method of dealing with Salah's 49th-minute raid into the penalty area was to blatantly drag him back by the shirt in a red-mist moment that did not even seriously require the intervention of the video assistant referee.
Salah, despite some ludicrous protests from Luiz, drilled home the penalty before taking him to cleaners when scoring Liverpool's brilliant third.
Too much of the Arsenal's playing out from the back was asking for trouble against this Liverpool side. Throw in the act of stupidity from Luiz and ultimately they got what they deserved, despite some areas for Emery to admire.
Man of the match - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Salah scored 22 league goals for Liverpool last term and has picked up where he left offArsenal's Liverpool woe - the stats
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Since Jurgen Klopp took over in October 2015, Liverpool have scored 26 goals in eight Premier League games against Arsenal - the most one side has netted against another in the competition in that period.
Only Everton at Arsenal (64) have conceded more away goals against a single opponent in the Premier League than Arsenal at Liverpool (62).
Arsenal have now failed to win any of their past 23 away league games against fellow 'Big six' sides (D8 L15) - during this run they have conceded 53 goals while keeping just one clean sheet.
Since the start of last season, Arsenal have given away eight Premier League penalties - only Brighton (10) have faced more.
Liverpool have scored 22 headed goals in the Premier League since the start of last season; seven more than any other side. The Reds have scored three in this campaign already, while no other side has scored more than one.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has faced Arsenal eight times without defeat in the Premier League (W5 D3).
Mohamed Salah has been directly involved in more Premier League goals against Arsenal than against any other side (eight; six goals and two assists). He has scored in all four of his home games against them.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has assisted nine goals in his past 10 appearances at Anfield for Liverpool in all competitions, including assisting once in each of his past five competitive home games.
Nicolas Pepe has become the first player to successfully dribble past Virgil van Dijk in the Dutch defender's past 50 appearances in the Premier League, since Mikel Merino in March 2018 for Newcastle.
More to follow.
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Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text
Line-ups
Liverpool
13Adrián
66Alexander-Arnold
32Matip
4van Dijk
26Robertson
14Henderson
3FabinhoBooked at 90mins
5WijnaldumSubstituted forMilnerat 69'minutes
11Salah
9FirminoSubstituted forLallanaat 86'minutes
10ManéSubstituted forOxlade-Chamberlainat 77'minutes
Substitutes
7Milner
12Gomez
15Oxlade-Chamberlain
20Lallana
23Shaqiri
27Origi
62Kelleher
Arsenal
1Leno
15Maitland-Niles
5Papastathopoulos
23David LuizBooked at 48mins
18Monreal
29GuendouziSubstituted forMkhitaryanat 86'minutes
34Xhaka
8CeballosSubstituted forTorreiraat 61'minutes
28WillockSubstituted forLacazetteat 81'minutes
19Pépé
14Aubameyang
Substitutes
7Mkhitaryan
9Lacazette
11Torreira
21Chambers
24Nelson
26MartÃnez
31Kolasinac
Referee:
Anthony Taylor
Attendance:
53,298
Match Stats
Home TeamLiverpoolAway TeamArsenal
Possession
Home53%
Away47%
Shots
Home25
Away9
Shots on Target
Home5
Away3
Corners
Home6
Away4
Fouls
Home8
Away5
Live Text
Posted at
Match ends, Liverpool 3, Arsenal 1.
Full TimePosted at 90'+5'
Second Half ends, Liverpool 3, Arsenal 1.
Posted at 90'+4'
Attempt missed. David Luiz (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left from a direct free kick.
BookingPosted at 90'+3'
Fabinho (Liverpool) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 90'+3'
Hand ball by Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool).
Posted at 90'
Offside, Arsenal. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tries a through ball, but Henrikh Mkhitaryan is caught offside.
Posted at 90'
Foul by Andrew Robertson (Liverpool).
Posted at 90'
Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Posted at 88'
Offside, Arsenal. Granit Xhaka tries a through ball, but Alexandre Lacazette is caught offside.
SubstitutionPosted at 86'
Substitution, Liverpool. Adam Lallana replaces Roberto Firmino.
SubstitutionPosted at 86'
Substitution, Arsenal. Henrikh Mkhitaryan replaces Matteo Guendouzi.
Goal!Posted at 85'
Goal! Liverpool 3, Arsenal 1. Lucas Torreira (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.
Posted at 81'
Foul by Jordan Henderson (Liverpool).
Posted at 81'
Nacho Monreal (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the left wing.
SubstitutionPosted at 81'
Substitution, Arsenal. Alexandre Lacazette replaces Joe Willock.
SubstitutionPosted at 77'
Substitution, Liverpool. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replaces Sadio Mané.
Posted at 77'
Offside, Arsenal. David Luiz tries a through ball, but Lucas Torreira is caught offside.
Posted at 75'
Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by James Milner.
Posted at 70'
Foul by Jordan Henderson (Liverpool).
Posted at 70'
Matteo Guendouzi (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
SubstitutionPosted at 69'
Substitution, Liverpool. James Milner replaces Georginio Wijnaldum.
Posted at 69'
Attempt blocked. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Posted at 67'
Foul by Sadio Mané (Liverpool).
Posted at 67'
Lucas Torreira (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 64'
Offside, Liverpool. Roberto Firmino tries a through ball, but Mohamed Salah is caught offside.
Posted at 64'
Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Posted at 63'
Attempt missed. Nacho Monreal (Arsenal) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Lucas Torreira with a cross following a corner.
Posted at 63'
Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Andrew Robertson.
Posted at 62'
Attempt saved. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Sadio Mané.
Posted at 62'
Foul by Andrew Robertson (Liverpool).
Posted at 62'
Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 61'
Attempt blocked. Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Sadio Mané.
SubstitutionPosted at 61'
Substitution, Arsenal. Lucas Torreira replaces Dani Ceballos.
Posted at 60'
Foul by Andrew Robertson (Liverpool).
Posted at 60'
Dani Ceballos (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Goal!Posted at 58'
Goal! Liverpool 3, Arsenal 0. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) left footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Fabinho.
Posted at 56'
Attempt missed. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) header from very close range is just a bit too high. Assisted by Andrew Robertson with a cross.
Posted at 56'
Attempt blocked. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Andrew Robertson.
Posted at 53'
Attempt blocked. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Posted at 53'
Attempt blocked. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Mohamed Salah.
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Source: bbc.com