20 Classic Moments in the Arsenal vs. Liverpool Rivalry

Saturday sees Arsenal and Liverpool face off at the Emirates Stadium, with both teams' impressive starts to 2013/14 potentially on the line.

Unless they win the league this season, the end of the current campaign will mark a decade since the Gunners lifted the league title, whilst Liverpool's wait for domestic glory is now more than double that time.

Both clubs have never really lost their place amongst English football's elite, though, and so when they meet, everyone is watching.

Fixtures between the two have a habit of producing high drama, too, and so to set the scene ahead of a titanic tussle on Saturday evening, here are 20 classic moments—in chronological order—from matches between two clubs for whom a mutual respect for one another has produced a healthy rivalry.

Wembley Glory for Arsenal in 1950 FA Cup Final

Photograph: Popperfoto

In 1950 Liverpool had still never won the FA Cup in their history—and they wouldn't for another 15 years.

Arsenal inflicted pain upon the Reds by picking up their third tournament victory with a fine display in a 2-0 victory in the final at Wembley, a win made possible thanks to goals in each half from inside forward Reg Lewis.

The Gunners wore specially-made golden shirts for the occasion whilst Liverpool wore white, something which may have been confusing for Gunners winger and legendary England cricketer Denis Compton.

He is rather more famous for being one of only 17 men to score more than 100 first-class centuries and is regularly cited as one of his country's finest batsmen.

A Television Star Is Born

Photograph: Liverweb.org.uk

These days we are used to seeing football on countless television channels, but things were a little different in 1964.

That all changed when the BBC launched Match of the Day, with the first-ever match featured on the flagship highlights programme being Liverpool's 3-2 win over Arsenal on the opening day of the 1964/65 season.

Roger Hunt (pictured) scored the first-ever goal shown on the programme, with Gordon Wallace grabbing the other two for the Reds including a late winner.

Football on TV was here to stay.

Charlie George Doesn't Take Defeat Lying Down

Photograph: stephenson.co.uk

Seeking to become the first team to win the league and cup double since rivals Tottenham had done so 10 years earlier, Arsenal took on Liverpool in the 1971 FA Cup final under intense pressure.

It made for a nervy 90 minutes in which neither team scored before Steve Heighway gave the Reds the lead early in extra-time as they chased only their second-ever FA Cup.

Eddie Kelly deflected in George Graham's shot to draw Arsenal level before Charlie George fired the winner nine minutes from the end of the extra half hour.

His relaxed celebration then became the stuff of Arsenal legend.

Bill Shankly Misses out on the Title

Bill Shankly didn't always get things his own way at Liverpool, and none more so than as his side were denied the title courtesy of a refereeing decision he disagreed with.

Without a league championship in six years, Liverpool would have won the 1971/72 First Division ahead of Brian Clough's Derby County had they beaten Arsenal at Highbury in their final game of the season, but they were held to a goalless draw.

In a match they dominated, the Reds simply couldn't score, with Emlyn Hughes hitting the bar, John Toshack going close, then seeing his strike two minutes from time ruled out for offside, a decision that Shankly raged about.

He claimed that it was the referee who made the call and not the linesman who was in a better position.

Liverpool went on to win 11 of the next 18 league titles, though, and so this near miss wasn't agonised over for long.

Anfield '89

Photograph: Andrew Cowie/Colorsport/guardian.co.uk

It is a night and a moment that lives on in the hearts of every single Arsenal fan who witnessed it—and even some who were too young to have.

With the season delayed following the dreadful events at Hillsborough a month earlier, the Gunners came to Anfield in May 1989 what effectively amounted to a league title playoff on the final day of the season.

Arsenal needed to win by two clear goals to pip the Reds to the First Division crown and took the lead through an Alan Smith goal as Anfield grew nervous.

Liverpool still thought they'd done enough to secure glory, though, only for future Reds midfielder Michael Thomas to stride forward and dramatically secure glory for George Graham's side in the most astonishing fashion.

What Can You Do in Four Minutes and 33 Seconds?

Photograph: RexMailPix

The opening years of the Premier League were packed with exciting young talents bursting on to the scene, but none of them were as deadly in front of goal as the teenage Robbie Fowler.

The 19-year-old used Liverpool's first home game of the 1994/95 season against Arsenal to score a blistering hat-trick within four minutes and 33 seconds to set a record which still stands to this day.

Fowler's stunning achievement in the 3-0 win underlined his immense promise and was one of the first steps towards him becoming an idol for Reds supporters.

They would never forget this sunny August afternoon.

Another Year, Another Treble

Photograph: Montevallu.edu

Less than two years later, Fowler treated Reds fans to an early Christmas present with yet another hat-trick in a home win over the Gunners.

This one took him 38 minutes either side of half-time and was perhaps the standout performance in a 1995/96 campaign which saw him score a staggering 36 goals and win the PFA Young Player of the Year award for a second consecutive year.

Fowler Doesn't Want a Penalty

Photograph: Daily Mail

What was it with Fowler and this fixture?

A year on from that second hat-trick, the forward was in the news again when he pleaded with referee Gerald Ashby not to award a penalty after he'd vaulted over a challenge from David Seaman at Highbury.

With both sides chasing the title, Stan Collymore gave the Reds the lead before Fowler was awarded Liverpool's first away league spot-kick in two-and-a-half years when he jumped over an attempted challenge from goalkeeper Seaman.

There was no contact, but Fowler's plea for a penalty not to be awarded went unheeded, with the forward then seeing his weak effort from 12 yards saved by Seaman only for Jason McAteer to slam home the rebound.

The Reds won 2-1, whilst Fowler earned a UEFA Fair Play award for his honesty.

Graham Poll's Three Card Trick

The three yellow cards that Graham Poll showed to Croatia's Josep Simunic in the 2006 World Cup is the most widely remembered performance from the not entirely publicity-shy referee, but this game in 2000 saw him hit the headlines, too.

A hugely anticipated clash early in the 2000/01 season descended into farce as Poll sent off Gary McAllister, Patrick Vieira and Dietmar Hamann, all incredibly harshly.

Poll later admitted that the Hamann decision was wrong, whilst McAllister's red—by far the most damaging as it occurred in the first half at Highbury—was overturned by the FA.

Lauren and Thierry Henry scored Arsenal's goals in the 2-0 win, but Poll's display ensured that he was the star.

After a Helping Hand from Henchoz...

After meeting in such controversial circumstances at the start of the season, officials were again in the spotlight as Liverpool met Arsenal again right at the end of the 2000/01 campaign.

Just 17 minutes of the FA Cup final had elapsed when, with Arsenal on top at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, Freddie Ljungberg released Henry, who rounded Sander Westerveld and shot goalwards only for his effort to be blocked on the line by the arm of Reds defender Stephane Henchoz.

It should have been a penalty and a red card, decisions which would probably have seen Arsenal win the game, but there was something about Liverpool and the cups during this season...

... Owen Owns the 2001 FA Cup Final

The Reds had survived an Arsenal onslaught until 19 minutes from time when Ljungberg rounded Westerveld to give the Gunners a thoroughly deserved lead.

A combination of fine saves from Liverpool's Dutch goalkeeper, clearances off the line from Sami Hyypia and Henchoz surviving another handball shout kept the score at 1-0 with just seven minutes to go, and it was from there that Michael Owen took over.

The forward had barely had a kick, but he reacted quickest to a Markus Babbel knockdown to fire an equaliser into the corner before brilliantly winning the cup when he burst on to Patrik Berger's long ball, outpaced an ageing Gunners defence and fired in a scarcely believable winner two minutes from time.

Cardiff and the surrounding areas erupted in joy.

Carragher Makes a Donation to Highbury

Arsenal were able to get their FA Cup revenge the following season when they knocked out the holders in a tempestuous fourth-round tie at Highbury.

Dennis Bergkamp fired what proved to be the only goal midway through the first half before three red cards in four crazy minutes in the second period.

The game erupted when Martin Keown was sent off for a professional foul on Owen midway through the second half. With Liverpool looking to take advantage of having an extra man, a bad challenge from Bergkamp sparked ugly scenes.

The Dutchman was sent off, whilst Jamie Carragher was hit by a coin thrown from the Highbury crowd during the melee.

Carragher turned and threw the coin back, meaning he too was given his marching orders.

Henry Inspires Arsenal's Invincibles

Liverpool were proving a serious threat to Arsenal's unbeaten league record in the 31st game of the Gunners' famous 2003/04 season.

Strikes from Hyypia and Owen sandwiched an Henry effort as the Reds led 2-1 at half-time at Highbury and then Arsenal's mercurial French forward took over.

Robert Pires grabbed Arsenal's equaliser early in the second period before Henry scored one of his trademark goals following a mazy run from distance which took out the entire Liverpool defence.

Henry later bundled home another goal to complete his hat-trick, as the Gunners survived a huge scare on the way to their historic league title.

Mellor's Magical Moment

Liverpool were injury-hit when they welcomed champions Arsenal to Anfield in November 2004, whilst the Gunners had only recently seen their 49-game unbeaten run come to an end following a defeat at Manchester United.

Playing with unheralded duo Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Neil Mellor up front, the Reds took the lead just before half-time when a sublime ball from Steven Gerrard found Xabi Alonso, who used the space created by a clever run from Mellor to smash home from the edge of the box.

Arsenal's leveller was just as emphatic, Patrick Vieira getting on the end of a fine move to clip home beyond Chris Kirkland, and that looked as though it would secure Arsene Wenger's side a point until Mellor's late intervention.

As a loose ball dropped some 25 yards from goal, Mellor smashed home an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner, scoring the kind of Kop end goal that he would have dreamed about as a youngster.

Anfield's 'Truth Day' Is Broadcast to Millions

Over the years, and in the face of no little criticism, Liverpool fans have constantly campaigned and fought for the full facts of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster to come to light.

Last year they finally made a tangible breakthrough as a full and independent inquiry into the tragedy delivered their results, and it is down to evenings such as this one in January 2007 that the fight for justice has stayed with so many.

With the Reds facing Arsenal in an FA Cup third-round tie broadcast to a primetime Saturday night audience on the BBC, supporters held up a mosaic on the Kop calling for "The Truth" and chanted vociferously for the first six minutes of the match.

The protest was partly down to the BBC agreeing to employ Kelvin Mackenzie, the editor of The Sun newspaper when they published their infamous story blaming fans for the disaster, and it certainly struck a chord with many watching.

Arsenal beat the FA Cup holders 3-1, but that almost didn't matter.

Baptista Batters Reds as Arsenal Win 6-3

Just three days after that FA Cup clash, Arsenal won at Anfield again on a staggering evening which featured nine goals.

Brazilian Julio Baptista scored four of them, and missed a penalty, as the largely young Gunners took advantage of a reshuffled Reds to win 6-3.

Featuring young talents such as Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby and Denilson—all of whom Rafael Benitez had tried to sign in the past—Arsenal raced into a 5-1 lead before the hour mark.

Goals from Steven Gerrard and Sami Hyypia threatened what would have been a miraculous Liverpool comeback, but Baptista grabbed his fourth of the night late on to cap a remarkable evening, comfortably his best on English soil during what was an underwhelming Arsenal stay.

Walcott Goes on the Run, and Thinks He's Won It...

The following season featured a titanic Champions League quarter-final tussle, the only time that these two have met outside of domestic combat.

A fractious first-leg at the Emirates finished 1-1 after goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Dirk Kuyt, Arsenal anger after Kuyt got away with what looked to be a foul on Alexander Hleb in the penalty area and a comedy clearance off his own goal-line from Nicklas Bendtner.

This Anfield contest always promised to be something special, though, and Arsenal stormed out of the blocks to take the lead through Abou Diaby after 12 minutes before Sami Hyypia headed Liverpool level.

A sublime turn and shot from Fernando Torres then looked to have won it for the Reds, only for Theo Walcott to embark on a stunning run almost the length of the Anfield pitch to tee up Emmanuel Adebayor to fire home with just seven minutes remaining.

Just like in 1989, Arsenal's fans celebrated wildly in the Anfield Road end stands.

They thought they'd won on away goals...

... but There Is a Sting in the Tale for Arsenal

...but they were wrong.

Within seconds of Adebayor's goal, Ryan Babel burst into the Kop end penalty area and was upended by future Reds defender Kolo Toure.

Up stepped Steven Gerrard and the Liverpool skipper buried the most pressured of penalties to put the Reds in front on the night and on aggregate.

Babel completed the 4-2 victory when he broke away late on to put his side into the semis and Arsenal into a bad mood.

Liverpool 4 Andrey Arshavin 4

A year on, the Reds and the Gunners played out one of the all-time classic Premier League clashes at Anfield.

Liverpool were still capable of winning the league title, but they ran into an Arsenal side with an inspired Russian in their ranks.

Andrey Arshavin fired Arsenal ahead in the first half, but Liverpool had turned the tables within 10 minutes of the second half thanks to goals from Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun.

Two more goals from Arshavin then completed his hat-trick and put Arsenal ahead for the second time on the night before a Torres spin and shot on 72 minutes.

There was still more drama in store, as another Walcott Anfield run set up Arshavin for a barely believable fourth goal late on, only for Benayoun to score his second and ensure that a remarkable match ended in a 4-4 draw, Liverpool's second such result in seven days following a Champions League clash at Chelsea a week earlier.

A Tale of Two Penalties

In April 2011 it was Arsenal who still had faint title hopes, but they were all but over following a remarkable finish to this clash at the Emirates Stadium which featured the latest Premier League goal ever.

A patched-up Liverpool side featured teenage full-backs Jon Flanagan and Jack Robinson, but they'd performed well to keep Arsenal out into an extended period of injury time following a concussion suffered by Jamie Carragher, who had to be stretchered off.

In the eighth minute of added time, though, Cesc Fabregas went to ground under a soft challenge from Jay Spearing, with Robin van Persie converting from the spot.

Liverpool thought they'd lost it there, only for their final attack to see Emmanuel Eboue flatten Lucas Leiva in the penalty area. Dirk Kuyt then smashed home a 102nd minute penalty with the final kick of a game that proved that Premier League drama can come late.