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Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has pinpointed Arsenal's defensive prowess as the benchmark to emulate after the team's victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Both the Reds and the Gunners were in Champions League action on Tuesday, with Liverpool securing a 1-0 triumph against Real Madrid at Anfield. Alexis Mac Allister's second-half header proved decisive as Liverpool claimed all three points against the Spanish team. It's a game Trent Alexander-Arnold will want to forget after he was booed on his return to Merseyside.
Arsenal, meanwhile, demolished Slavia Prague 3-0 in the Czech Republic, marking the team's eighth straight clean sheet across all competitions.
Arne Slot's men have now kept consecutive clean sheets as they gear up to face Manchester City in the Premier League this weekend.
Arsenal maintains a seven-point lead over the Reds in the standings, while also holding a six-point buffer over second-placed Manchester City.
After Liverpool's triumph against Real Madrid, Van Dijk explained why he considers Arsenal's defensive statistics as his objective, revealing how the Liverpool dressing room truly perceives the Gunners.
"That is the basis of success at the moment. I think that you can see that Arsenal are flying and that is down to clean sheets and not conceding chances," Van Dijk told Amazon Prime Sport.
"I think that's what we had as well, and now what we are trying to do consistently - start with defending.
"We have the quality to hurt anyone in possession and on the break.
"But it starts with defending, and today showed our hard work.
"Against Villa, we didn't create too many open [play] chances, but we managed to find the win, and we have to keep going.
"Sunday is going to be another difficult one, and so we have to be ready for that as well."
The Premier League is poised to wrap up its final set of fixtures this weekend before players depart for November international commitments.
Liverpool encounters a pivotal examination against Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday, and simply cannot afford to fall further adrift of Arsenal in the championship pursuit. The Gunners play Sunderland on Saturday.
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