Liverpool vs. Arsenal: Score and Reaction from 2017 Premier League Match

Liverpool powered their way to a 3-1 win at home over Arsenal during Saturday's Premier League action.

The Reds dominated the first half, with Roberto Firmino opening the score early and Sadio Mane doubling the advantage.  

The Gunners improved after the break, and Danny Welbeck reduced the gap to a single goal, but Georginio Wijnaldum secured the win late in the match.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger couldn't count on Mesut Ozil, who was out through illness, and he shocked everyone by dropping Alexis Sanchez to the bench, per Bleacher Report UK:

There were no surprises in Liverpool's starting XI, with Divock Origi on the bench, per the club's official Twitter account:

The Reds started on the front foot, and Philippe Coutinho opened up the Arsenal defence with a great pass for Firmino, who almost sent James Milner through on goal.

Arsenal did their best to dominate possession early, working the ball around in an attempt to unlock the Liverpool defence, but, with their first counter, Liverpool grabbed the lead.

The Gunners' defence was put in all sorts of trouble as both Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin failed to mark their man, and Mane easily found Firmino, who fired home. Bleacher Report's James McNicholas was not impressed with the visitors:

Liverpool nearly doubled their lead minutes later, as a ball over the top had Arsenal's defence on the back foot. Fortunately for the visitors, the official called play back for a perceived foul from Mane.

Joel Matip almost turned home a sharp cross from Coutinho, while, at the other end of the pitch, Simon Mignolet made a great reflex save to deny Olivier Giroud.

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Liverpool remained the better team, and Firmino almost unlocked the defence with a clever run. His timing was off, however, as he just strayed offside. Coutinho put Petr Cech to work, and Xhaka couldn't find the target from a similar position.

Coquelin's nightmare outing continued when he became the first player booked for a silly foul on Adam Lallana, and the Frenchman didn't look good during the attack that led to the second goal, with Firmino given far too much space to find Mane.

Matt Jones of Bleacher Report UK was blunt in his assessment of the current Arsenal side:

Coutinho perhaps should have added a third shortly before half-time, but the Brazilian couldn't work the ball past Cech from close range.

To the delight of Arsenal fans, Wenger took off Coquelin for Sanchez at half-time. Phil McNulty of BBC Sport thought the manager had plenty of options:

Sanchez made an immediate impact, firing a great cross in for Alex Iwobi, who put Mignolet to work. Just a few minutes later, the Belgian made another superb stop from Giroud's header.

Firmino then found Cech in his path after a lovely move past Laurent Koscielny, and Wijnaldum couldn't put enough power into his shot.

Chances were coming fast, and it was Welbeck who converted after 57 minutes, courtesy of a great through-ball from Sanchez. Bleacher Report UK's Nick Akerman thought his delivery wouldn't help matters for Wenger:

Mignolet had to be alert to deal with a cross almost immediately after, while Shkodran Mustafi  did well to break down a Liverpool attack.

Both teams did not hold back in their search for another goal. Nathaniel Clyne found some space to pull the tringer, but his effort flew well over the bar, and Coutinho didn't find any better luck minutes later.

Matip just couldn't get enough of the ball to trouble Cech after a good cross from Coutinho, and Mustafi's header from a corner flew harmlessly out of play.

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Substitute Origi went close, hitting the post, and Lallana managed to prod the ball away before Lucas Perez could pull the trigger.

Arsenal grew desperate and pushed all of their players forward, but the goal fell at the other end of the pitch, as Wijnaldum finished off a great team move on the break.

As one might expect, Reds manager Jurgen Klopp was satisfied with his team's performance:

Wenger was naturally asked about his decision to drop Sanchez:

Liverpool's next outing will be against Burnley, while Arsenal will face Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League.