Arsenal flagged up the early heavyweight confrontation with Premier League champions Liverpool at Anfield with the social media message: "Make a statement."
The game was billed as a meeting between the club that wears the crown and the pretenders whose recent attempts to win the title have ended in the bitter disappointment of falling short.
After Dominik Szoboszlai's brilliant 83rd-minute free-kick gave Liverpool victory, it is tough to escape the suspicion that the cloak of caution Arteta draped over Arsenal makes this a significant missed opportunity to secure a landmark - albeit very rare - Anfield victory.