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Liverpool Stun Sluggish Gunners

Arsenal have had a worst start to a run of difficult fixtures after the leaders were swept apart by a superior Liverpool side, conceding four goals inside the first twenty minutes in a 5-1 thrashing at Anfield.

Martin Skrtel scored twice in the opening 10 minutes to put Liverpool in firm control and further strikes from Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge gave the home side an unassailable 4-0 lead before half-time.

Sterling netted the fifth goal early in the second half with Mikel Arteta’s penalty the only blot on Liverpool’s copybook in what was a perfect day for Brendan Rodgers’ side as they enhanced their top four aspirations and dented Arsenal’s title bid.

Liverpool came racing out of the blocks and hit the front in the very first minute when Steven Gerrard whipped in a free-kick and Skrtel, unmarked inside the six-yard box, bundled the ball home past Wojciech Szczesny with his knee.

Liverpool had rattled Arsenal and they doubled their lead on 10 minutes when Gerrard floated over a corner and Skrtel produced a superb header into the top corner over the jumping Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the line.

Arsenal created their first chance of the game on the quarter hour mark when Per Mertesacker got on the end of Santi Cazorla’s corner only to flash his header across the face of goal.

The Reds’ third goal on 17 minutes when Jordan Henderson robbed Mesut Ozil on the halfway line and he fed Suarez out wide. The Uruguayan picked out Sterling with a perfect pass to give the winger a simple finish at the far post.

Things got even better for Liverpool three minutes later Philippe Coutinho found Sturridge’s run with a perfectly-weighted ball in behind Laurent Koscielny and the striker coolly slotted home past a stranded Szczesny.

Liverpool picked up where they left off at the start of the second half and made it 5-0 on 52 minutes when Sterling broke the Arsenal offside trap to race clear on goal from Toure’s pass and, after seeing his initial effort saved by Szczesny, the winger was able to slot home at the second attempt.

Arsenal won a penalty on 68 minutes when Gerrard brought down Oxlade-Chamberlain inside the box and Arteta stepped up to covert with the ease.

Arteta went close to scoring a second for Arsenal five minutes later when he drilled in a fierce free-kick which Mignolet did well to push away, but this was Liverpool’s day.

The defeat marked the start of a run of difficult fixtures for the Gunner, who face Manchester United in the league next week, followed by an FA Cup clash at home to Liverpool and the first leg of their UEFA Champions League tie against Bayern Munich.