Mohamed Salah chose the week of Halloween to come back to haunt Arsenal with a late equaliser at the Emirates.
In a thumping game from start to finish, Liverpool came from behind twice to ruin Arsenal’s chances of getting back into the thick of the title race. And it had to be that man Salah who denied them.
The Egyptian did what he does best, pouncing with nine minutes of normal time remaining to score his 11th league goal against the hosts. It rounded off a thrilling spectacle between two rivals who will have greeted the final whistle with a mixture of frustration and relief.
Arsenal went ahead through the brilliant Bukayo Saka, only to be pegged back when Virgil van Dijk equalised. Mikel Merino’s first goal put Arsenal back in front close to half time.
But Liverpool dominated the second half after Arsenal lost Gabriel before the hour mark, and could well have lost a game that appeared to be well within their grasp. Arsenal came into this massive clash looking slight underdogs.
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William Saliba left a huge hole in defence after being suspended following his red card in the shock defeat to Bournemouth. While Martin Odegaard remained sidelined and Riccardo Calafiori joined him on the injured list.
Arteta could at least name doubtful duo Saka and Jurrien Timber in his starting XI. There is no love lost between these two, and it took just a few minutes for Van Dijk to escape a booking for kicking out at Kai Havertz after the ball had gone.
And then Arsenal got revenge by taking the lead in the ninth minute with a goal from nothing. A long ball forward from Ben White found Saka, who charged towards goal, cut inside Andy Robertson to leave him sat on his backside, before smashing a shot into the top corner.
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A bad mistake from Merino almost gifted Salah the chance to equalise. But Liverpool did draw level moments later, when Luis Diaz flicked on a corner into the path of Van Dijk, who couldn’t miss with a header from point blank range.
Merino should have put Arsenal back in front, but missed the target when he should have scored. It was fast, furious and fantastic in equal measure.
Saka was terrorising Robertson and cut inside again, before curling a shot just off target. While Havertz just failed to convert a chance from Gabriel Martinelli, before blazing over after Martinelli had caused panic in the Liverpool defence again.
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The hosts were on top and their dominance paid off on the stroke of half time, when Merino headed them back in front. But the loss of Gabriel to a knee problem nine minutes into the second half offered Liverpool some encouragement.
Slot’s men needed to exploit Arsenal’s makeshift defence, but a weaving run from Diaz came to nothing, as did a dangerous cross from Salah. But Liverpool pinned Arsenal inside their own half.
And the home side’s brave resistance was broken on 81 minutes when Darwin Nunez broke free down the right before picking out the unmarked Salah, who made no mistake with a cool finish.
In this fixture last season, Arsenal beat Liverpool 3-1 to remain in the title race and celebrated noisily in the home dressing room. But this time round and thanks to Salah, there would have been silence.