Premier League: Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal as it happened

Liverpool finish Arsenal off! It;s a sublime counter attacking goal with Lallana releasing Origi, who pounds his way down the inside right flank. He slides an inviting ball back across the face of the goal and the former Newcastle man arrives right on time to slot it into the far corner. Game over.

Goal! Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal (Georgino Wijnaldum, 90+1)

Vital block by Matip! Bellerin feeds Iwobi who lays it off to Sanchez but his effort cant beat the defender. Liverpool can now pounce on the counter.

Three minutes of time added on here. Lucas will come on for Liverpool to waste a bit of that.

The moment Danny Welbeck pulled one back. Arsenal have five minutes to find another,

Origi denied by the post! Mustafi pulls down Firmino to win Liverpool a free kick and it is met by the Belgian one who plants one towards the far corner, only to see it come off the base of the post.

That free kick comes into the box but Mustafi heads over. Divock Origi has entered the fray; he replaces Coutinho.

Now Xhaka is booked for his appeals! Good grief.

Wow, I don't know how Can has avoided a second booking there. He has hobbled off for some treatment - that may have been inflicted by his own teammate - but he will be back on shortly.

Walcott is knocked 10 feet in the air after both Can and Matip hit him with crunching challenges. Can has been booked already...

Coutinho jinks away from Koscielny and fires one over from the edge of the box. That prompts that double Arsenal change with Lucas Perez and Theo Walcott replacing Welbeck and Giroud.

Arsenal are preparing to make two more changes; both very attacking ones.

Mane has been electric. He skips inside Monreal with ridiculous ease out on the right, finding a teammate on the edge of the box . A poor first touch allows Oxlade-Chamberlain to nip in however and he wins a free kick,

Sadio Mane shows tremendous footwork to hold off two challenges and find Clyne's run down the right. He's in acres of space but he loses his composure when it comes to lifting a cross in, hammering a wild one straight out of play.

Liverpool close to their third! Arsenal are really struggling to live with Coutinho who bursts down the right before forcing a ball across goal. Mane and Firmino are in there but Mustafi does terrifically well to force it away for a corner.

Arsenal have one back! And surprise surprise, Sanchez is involved. Liverpool are caught upfield as the Chilean drives forward, threading a precise ball through for Welbeck inside the left of the box. The former Manchester United forward draws Mignolet out before dinking a cheeky effort over the Belgian. Superb finish; game on.

Goal! Liverpool 2-1 Arsenal (Danny Welbeck, 56)

The Arsenal wall does its job with Wijnaldum's effort on the rebound easily saved by Cech.

Now Liverpool have a free kick just outside the box. A long ball finds Coutinho who rides two challenges with slick footwork before he goes down.

Liverpool hold their line and three Arsenal players scamper offside. Nothing to see here.

This is much better from Arsenal. Iwobi brilliantly side steps Can after a cracking first touch but is brought down by the German. Chance for the Gunners to whip this into the box.

Brilliant save from Mignolet! Sanchez whips a beauty of a ball into Giroud, who hangs in the air to power a header on goal. The Belgian shot stopper reacts to palm it over the bar, however. Arsenal already improving with Sanchez involved.

We are back underway and unsurprisingly, Alexis Sanchez is on, replacing Coquelin.

Half-time: Liverpool 2-0 Arsenal

Liverpool keep coming. Arsenal again can't clear the ball and Coutinho pounces, winning it on the edge of the box before lashing his effort on goal that takes a deflection to lift it just wide.

The ball deflects high up into the air but Coutinho brings it under his belt with a mgic first touch. His second isn't quite as good, however, hitting his shot straight at Cech.

Liverpool have their second! Milner does well out on the left, patiently waiting for the run of Wijnaldum run inside. The Dutchman brings it into the box before finding Firmino who spies Mane unmarked to his right. He slides it into his path and the former Southampton man has plenty of time to measure up and drill one into the far corner.

Goal! Liverpool 2-0 Arsenal (Sadio Mane, 38)

Oxlade-Chamberlain tries to force his way down the right wing with his side having no joy through the middle. Emre Can comes out to track him however and forces him off the ball fairly to win a goal kick for his side. Liverpool are winning all those battles at the moment.

Coquelin invites pressure on himself and is dispossessed by Mane who races towards goal. Arsenal just manage to cling on, but that backline looks nervous.

Coutinho almost makes it two! The Brazilian lashes a terrific strike from the edge of the box but Cech reacts brilliantly to push it over the bar.

Olivier Giroud looks in a bit of pain at the minute. It looks like he;s carrying a hip problem that he cannot shake. Alexis incoming?

Alexis Sanchez looks in good form on the bench; he's laughing over something while trying to get a less-than-impressed looking Gabriel involved too.

It;s too easy for Philippe Coutinho, he waltzes past a few challenges before fizzing a ball across the face of goal, with no Arsenal players looking particularly bothered by it all.

Liverpool are very relaxed now after that goal and so is the Anfield crowd.

Liverpool get off to the perfect start! Arsenal fail to deal with a long ball up field with Koscielny missing an important header. It allows Mane to pick up the pieces and force a ball across goal from the right which breaks to Firmino who can take a touch before smashing it into the roof of the net.

Goal! Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal (Roberto Firmino, 8)

Arsenal lurch forward on the counter with Bellerin offering an option down the right having made a 70 yard dash to join the attack. He settles for a corner which breaks to Coquelin, but his meek shot from just outside the box is easy work for Mignolet.

Emre Can slides a fine ball down the inside left channel for Coutinho but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is able to force the first corner of the game.

Here we go, Arsenal get us underway at Anfield.

Imagine the rage if Arsenal lose tonight after this man started the match on the bench? Things might get brutal later.

Arsenal confirm Mesut Ozil's absence this afternoon is due to illness.

Ain't no meltdown like an Arsenal meltdown. The reaction to Alexis Sanchez being dropped has been fun.

Arsene Wenger makes four changes to the side that beat Hull City in their last Premier League match. Mesut Ozil is again absent due to illness with their other key man Alexis Sanchez left on the bench in what is a huge call from Arsene Wenger. There is no fitness issues with the Chile international. Quite simply, he has been dropped.

Granit Xhaka comes back into midfield with Danny Welbeck starting on the left of attack in support of Olivier Giroud.

Jurgen Klopp makes just one change to that side that performed so dismally against Leicester City last Monday. Lucas Leiva drops out wit Ragnar Klavan stepping in - Dejan Lovren has recovered from his injury but he only makes the bench.

Arsenal team to face Liverpool: Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Xhaka; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Iwobi, Welbeck; Giroud

Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Gabriel, Ramsey, Walcott, Alexis, Lucas

Liverpool team to face Arsenal: Mignolet; Clyne, Matip, Klavan, Milner; Wijnaldum, Can; Lallana, Coutinho, Mane; Firmino

Subs: Karius, Moreno, Lucas, Alexander, Lovren, Origi, Woodburn

BREAKING: Alexis Sanchez starts on the bench for Arsenal with Danny Welbeck starting ahead of him in his first start of the season. Olivier Giroud leads the line.

BREAKING: Ragnar Klavan and Joel Matip start at centre half with Dejan Lovren only fit enough for the bench.

Manchester United missed a huge opportunity to jump into the top four earlier today with Zlatan Ibrahimovic missing a penalty as Jose Mourinho's side were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Bournemouth. That means a win for Liverpool tonight will see them leapfrog Arsenal and see them join Manchester City on 52 points. They could even finish the day in third place on goal difference.

The Gunners lost at home to Jurgen Klopp's side in a thrilling 4-3 on the opening day of the season, but revenge tonight will see them move back level on points with Tottenham.

Team news: Arsenal

Mesut Ozil missed the 1-0 victory over Sutton United - game which feels like it took place an age ago - due to illness, but Arsene Wenger thinks "he should be okay" to feature against Liverpool. The Arsenal boss also revealed at a press conference on Thursday Danny Welbeck is now in contention to start after suffering 'ups and downs' during his recovery from his long-term knee injury.

He's in contention," added Wenger. "He had big ups and downs with his knee problem and I followed the advice of medical people.

Team news: Liverpool

After flying home from La Manga early and not featuring at Leicester due to a viral infection, Daniel Sturridge is another doubt today - this time due to a hip problem.

Daniel was ill – really, really ill. Now he has a strain in his hip muscle. It happened in the rehab session. It's not the biggest one, it's very small, but it keeps him out of normal training for probably another week. In this week he can train, but not in team training.

Team news: Arsenal

Laurent Koscielny and Aaron Ramsey both returned to full training this week and are both expected to at the very least make the Arsenal squad this evening.

Team news: Liverpool

The centre-half partnership of Lucas Leiva and Joel Matip was exposed by Leicester City last Monday and Jurgen Klopp may have to settle for them again today with Dejan Lovren still a doubt leading up to kick off.

The defender has sat out three successive games against Hull City, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester and also did not travel with his teammates for their warm-weather camp in La Manga due to a knee injury suffered in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea.

For Jordan it will be too soon, for sure,. That will take time. Dejan, we will see. He [did] part of team training the day before yesterday, and then yesterday he was in full team training.

"Now we have to see how he reacts on this. He will be involved in training again, if nobody tells me anything different. Then we have to make a decision. It's not the longest, he was out for pretty much four weeks, [he has been] training for three days and in the end I have to make a decision. I am not sure about it [at the moment].

Team news: Liverpool

The Reds welcome Arsenal to Anfield knowing they will be without their captain Jordan Henderson. The midfielder missed three matches with a recurring heel problem at the turn of the year and was sidelined once again for a dismal 3-1 loss to Leicester City on Monday night (27 February) after sustaining a bruised foot in training last week. That same knock keeps him out today.