Arsenal missed the chance to go eight points clear at the top of the Premier League as they were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.

A run of three straight draws for Manchester City gave Mikel Arteta's leaders a chance to further stretch their advantage at the summit, but they produced a lacklustre attacking performance to frustrate their home fans.

Arsenal started brightly with Bukayo Saka at the heart of several promising moments, but neither the England winger nor Jurrien Timber could pick out a red shirt from the byline.

And Liverpool went agonisingly close in the 27th minute after a mix-up between William Saliba and David Raya. 

Saliba's poor back pass forced Raya into a rushed clearance, and after seizing upon the loose ball, Conor Bradley saw his delicate lob bounce off the crossbar.

Neither team created a better opportunity than that for the remainder of the contest, with Arsenal not attempting a single shot between the 45th minute and second-half stoppage time.

Dominik Szoboszlai – who scored a stunning free-kick in the reverse fixture – sent another dead-ball effort onto the roof of the net, while Arsenal finally fired off three shots after the fourth official's board went up.

However, Gabriel Magalhaes hit the side netting from the best of those half-chances, while tempers boiled over when Gabriel Martinelli attempted to push Bradley – who was down with a serious-looking knee injury that led him to be carried off – over the sideline. 

Arsenal sit six points clear of City and Aston Villa after seeing their winning run halted at five games, while Liverpool remain fourth, two points clear of the chasing pack. 

Data Debrief: Blockbuster clash fails to live up to the billing

This was the first 0-0 draw between Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League since August 2015. Coming into Thursday's game, there had been 79 goals scored across their last 20 league meetings, at an average of 3.95 per match.

The sides combined for just 0.93 expected goals (xG), with Arsenal tallying 0.57 xG and Liverpool putting up just 0.36 xG, with the Reds failing to register a shot on target in a Premier League game for the first time since March 2010 against Wigan Athletic – 600 matches ago.

And Arsenal have only failed to score in two of their last 32 Premier League games, with both of those instances coming against Liverpool.

The Gunners have now failed to win each of their last five Premier League games against Liverpool when facing them as league leaders (D4 L1), and time will tell how costly these dropped points might be.