Liverpool put in 30 crosses against Arsenal on Saturday evening. Only one opponent put in more crosses versus the Gunners in the whole of last season. That came in the 1-0 win against Napoli back in April, when the Italian side put in an incredible 37.

The Partenopei actually had a higher accuracy than Liverpool did on Saturday, but the big difference is quality. Andy Robertson may have not found a teammate with many of his deliveries but there were at least two occasions when the ball flashed across the goal.

Manager Unai Emery wouldn’t have intended for the Reds to get so many opportunities to cross the ball but it was an inevitable consequence of how he set up his team.

By going with a diamond in midfield, it presented both Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold with the chance to go forward with no out and out wingers playing against them.

Instead, Emery gambled that having two ‘outside forwards’ in Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would have led to the Liverpool fullbacks second-guessing about going too high up.

With Liverpool having most of the possession, and keen to make a statement at home, the gamble didn’t pay off. It must be said that Pepe, in particular, did get one-on-one with Virgil van Dijk as a consequence of the tactical ploy, but the Ivorian was clearly still not 100% match fit.

He managed to skin Robertson to get clean through on goal, and if he had managed to put the chance away, Emery’s tactics could have come more into play as the Reds pressed for an equaliser.

Joel Matip’s goal from a set-piece, though, emboldened their opponents and the game plan began to unravel. It was a high-risk move which some pundits said played into Liverpool’s hands.

In hindsight, giving license to Liverpool’s two most creative players in Alexander-Arnold and Robertson looked naive. I understand Emery’s reasoning for packing the middle to win the midfield battle but the Reds constantly had an outlet ball.

If Arsenal had persisted with a front three, it would have forced Liverpool’s backline and their fullbacks to stay deeper. Chelsea managed to do this in the European Super Cup as well as using their pace on the counter-attacks to catch their opponents out.

With Pepe, Aubameyang and Lacazette on the field, it would likely have provided Emery with the best solution both offensively and defensively. Gunners fans will be left to wonder what might have been if the front three had been selected from the start.