Not many fixtures in the Premier League calendar can rival that of Arsenal vs. Liverpool, a contest steeped with history stretching back more than a century to the first meeting in October 1893.
While neither have enjoyed as much success as they would have liked in recent times, both are still often backed to fight it out for a place in the top four year after year. That was no different in 2010, when the pair were pitted together on the opening day of the campaign in an intriguing clash.
During that summer, the Reds had pulled off one of the big coups by tempting free agent Joe Cole to Anfield, with his trickery in midfield seemingly the key ingredient needed by Liverpool to improve on their seventh-place finish from a year prior.
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Arsenal, on the other hand, brought in a number of new faces to help galvanise another title tilt after five years of missing out to Chelsea and Manchester United. Laurent Koscielny, a 24-year-old French defender from Lorient, was among those recruited during the off-season.
Both Cole and Koscielny no doubt dreamt of making an instant impact at their new clubs on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, but they made an impression of the wrong kind when both saw red in the feisty Anfield affair.
The England international cut a frustrated figure for large parts of the first half, failing to make any real impression on the game despite being fielded in his favoured position behind David N'Gog.
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Things would turn a whole lot worse for the ex-West Ham United and Chelsea man on the stroke of half time, however, as he lunged in on Koscielny to leave referee Martin Atkinson with little choice but to brandish a red card. The Frenchman had to be stretchered off the field of play, seemingly putting an end to his first outing, but he soon resurfaced for the second half.
Prior to that flashpoint, Glen Johnson saw an effort tipped over by Manuel Almunia, while N'Gog's header was cleared off the line by Gael Clichy in an opening 45 minutes of very few chances.
Arsenal certainly had the better of things possession wise, which painted a rather bleak picture for the home side who had to play the remainder a man down. But it was Liverpool, galvanised by their supporters, who took a somewhat surprise lead two minutes after the restart through N'Gog.
Arsene Wenger, who claimed pre-match that his players had the required mentality to go all the way this season, saw his men probe away with little effect. Roy Hodgson was to be denied a first win in the Anfield dugout, though, when Marouane Chamakh - another new boy - diverted a cross against the post which Pepe Reina in turn spilled into his net.
The howler from the experienced goalkeeper appeared to be the end of the drama on Merseyside, until Koscielny - the victim of that earlier Cole lunge - was shown a second yellow card deep into injury time to level up the man count as well as the scoreline.
It remained that way for the remaining seconds, ensuring that the two sides took a share of the points on offer at the end of a highly-entertaining affair, which was contested on this day five years ago.
Liverpool would narrowly improve on their previous Premier League position by finishing in sixth, while the Gunners had to settle for fourth place and a spot in the Champions League.
Liverpool XI: Reina, Johnson, Agger, Carragher, Skrtel, Gerrard, Cole, Mascherano (Lucas-78), Jovanovic (Maxi-65), N'Gog (Torres-74)
Arsenal XI: Almunia, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Clichy, Eboue (Walcott-59), Diaby (Van Persie-76), Nasri, Wilshere (Rosicky-60), Arshavin, Chamakh
Daniel Lewis
