4 Things we learnt from Liverpool's rampant victory over Arsenal

In the late kickoff on Saturday, 29 December, Arsenal travelled to Anfield to face league leaders Liverpool. When the two sides met earlier in the season, they played out a 1-1 draw with James Milner and Alexandre Lacazette getting on the scoresheet. On this occasion, it was a completely different picture as Klopp's Reds ran riot and went onto win 5-1 with Roberto Firmino grabbing a hat-trick and both Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah also getting on the scoresheet. This victory now gives Liverpool a seven-point gap between themselves and title rivalsManchester City with the big game looming on Thursday night.

#4 Arsenal are still developing under Emery

It's been a topsy-turvy season, to say the least for Arsenal so far. There was lots of excitement around the club when the Spaniard arrived after Wenger ended his long stay at the club. Arsenal signed new players like Torreira and Sokratis which created even more intrigue about how Emery set up his Arsenal side.

His first two games resulted in defeats at the hands of rivals Chelsea and Manchester City which caused some distress amongst Arsenal fans, leading to some thoughts that he could be just the same as Wenger towards the end of his time at the club.

However, these thoughts were then eradicated by them producing a 22 game unbeaten run across all competitions with some stellar performances among the way where they played some lovely attacking football.

A North London derby win, 4-2 against Spurs created even more excitement around the club as "North London became Red" once again in the words of Arsenal fans.

This run has now been followed by a 5 game winless run including a 2-0 cup defeat in another North London derby and this 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool.

A combination of development and injuries could be at fault for this dip in form, but it is evident Emery still needs time to develop at Arsenal and it may take a while for the side to play the way he wants specifically.

With time, who knows what Emery could create with this Arsenal side as he has some excellent players at his disposable and with the right additions they could return to the Champions League soon.

#3 Klopp loves playing against Arsenal

Klopp in action against Arsenal on Saturday

Ever since Klopp arrived at Anfield in 2015, he is sure to have loved the games where he has played Arsenal and so will have Liverpool fans. Klopp has played Arsenal 6 times since he took over as manager and every single game has been not just entertaining but a good result for Klopp and Liverpool.

The first Arsenal fixture Klopp took charge of was a 3-3 draw at Anfield, with lots of attacking football on display creating an entertaining spectacle. His second was the opening game of the 2016/17 season, which was another enthralling encounter which ended 4-3 to Liverpool at the Emirates.

In the 3rd and 4th encounters, Liverpool dominated thanks to stellar performances from their front three on both occasions winning 3-1 and 4-0.

The 5th wasn't the best for Klopp as after going in front thanks to James Milner, Arsenal managed a late equailiser but still it wasn't a bad point away from home for Liverpool.

A 5-1 win in the sixth game completes what is an impressive record for Klopp. Since he took over from Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool are unbeaten against Arsenal with 4 wins and 2 draws.

This good record will surely make this fixture one that Klopp loves taking part in.

#2 Liverpool look as though they can handle the pressure

There have been some doubts on whether Liverpool are going to be able to handle the pressure as they have been in this position before and not succeeded. However, this Liverpool side seems to be different.

Their defence which wasn't the greatest under Rodgers in 13/14 when they challenged for the title, but the defence Klopp has built has been impeccable thus far this season. They have only conceded 8 goals in 20 matches so far and have managed 12 clean sheets (The League's highest total).

Also, Liverpool's attack is immense with Salah, Mane and Firmino all being amongst the goals this season and Shaqiri and Sturridge also contributing when they have come into the front 3 or 4.

Not only does Liverpool's squad show this time around it could be different, but also the way the team reacts when things aren't going there way also gives this indication, as shown in the Arsenal game.

Maitland-Niles' opener in this fixture is the first time Liverpool have conceded first in 2018 at Anfield, but they didn't let it affect them. Within 5 minutes of Arsenal scoring, Liverpool were in front thanks to 2 goals from Firmino showing they were quick to react after going behind.

Whether this will be kept up by Liverpool will have to be seen, but if they do it is hard to believe they won't win the title from the position that they are in currently.

#1 Roberto Firmino is still relentless

People have expressed concerns over Firmino's form this season as he hasn't always played up to the potential of Roberto Firmino Liverpool fans know and love. He's been up and down so far this season as he has shown heroics with the last gasp winner against Paris but he's also been sloppy at times in the final third.

This was all forgotten however, with his fabulous performance against Arsenal where he grabbed a hattrick. The Brazillian sprinkled some samba magic in this fixture with some fabulous skills and lovely goals.

His first was a fairly easy goal but he finished it off with his trademark no-look finish to make the scores level.

Firmino then put Liverpool back in front with some lovely skills and dribbling to leave Arsenal defenders in his trail before calmly slotting the ball past Bernd Leno in the Arsenal goal.

He finished off his hattrick with a well-struck penalty which sent Leno the wrong way. This was his first hat trick in a Liverpool shirt.

Firmino reached some big milestones in this fixture including his first hat-trick for Liverpool. He also drew level with Robbie Fowler as Liverpool's all-time top goalscorer against Arsenal and became the highest goalscoring Brazillian in Premier League history, overtaking former teammate Phillipe Coutinho.

This Firmino masterclass showed fans that the brilliant Brazillian that they know and love was still as relentless as ever and left fans hoping for more of the same with the big Manchester City game looming.

Edited by Kingshuk Kusari