The hosts went in with a deserved lead at the break after Dirk Kuyt fired in from close range.
But that was wiped out in eight second-half minutes thanks to Glen Johnson's own goal and an emphatic finish from Andrei Arshavin, who scored four goals in last season's 4-4 draw here.
REACTION:
Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Vermaelen revealed that a furious half-time rant from manager Arsene Wenger was behind their turnaround at Anfield.
Trailing at the break, Wenger tore into his players and got the response that he wanted - even if he did scare his players a little.
Fabregas said: "He told us that we didn't deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt if we play like that and he was right. We were not good in the first half. In the second half we turned it around. There is still a long way to go in the Premier League and it's more open than ever. Any team can beat you and you can beat any team."
Vermaelen was similarly taken aback by his manager's words and said: "I've never seen him like that before and he was just reacting to how we were playing. The first half was really bad and the second half we put some pressure on them and got a good result. It's very important because we've closed the gap a little bit and we're back in the race."
Wenger refused to go into much detail about what he had said at the interval but revealed his belief that there is no outstanding team in the Premier League and the division is there for the taking.
He said: "I never speak about that because I believe you respond to what you think your team needs and I always try to be composed. I was quite composed!
"It is good because after 13 years I can still surprise the players. I can't explain what I said at half time. I just said that the first half was Liverpool second half was Arsenal. Liverpool played at a pace above us won all the 50-50s in the first half and at half time 1-0 was a good result for us.
"We played with the handbrake down through fear of not winning the big games because we lost against Chelsea and Man United and you could see that we brought that into the game.
"With the results of yesterday it gets us back in a good position with a game in hand. Mentally for us it was a massive game. We knew that with what happened yesterday we had to win the game. We knew that before the game started and we did it so that's something positive but now its down to consistency. I've said for a long time now that the team that wins this league is the team that's consistent and nobody has been yet."
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez bemoaned his side's bad luck but insisted they can still get into the Champions League next season.
He said: "We were talking before with some players and we knew that the only way to reduce the gap was to win our games. Our target is the same, the top four.
"We have to keep going , improve and win our games and if we play at the level we were at in the first half we will win some games.
I think that it's difficult when you are playing so well and you are winning and you start the second half and concede an own goal again. Sometimes it's difficult to keep the confidence high and we have to show character when we return to training.
"The people are disappointed and the players are disappointed and we have to start working with them and doing things the right way. The only thing is to keep working. The positive is the first half and the negative is the lack of confidence in the second half."
HOW IT HAPPENED:
A classic game of two halves. Liverpool's pressing game paid real dividends in the opening period. They were well worth their lead and should have been further ahead but Fernando Torres missed a great chance and they also had a valid penalty shout turned down. Fabio Aurelio's free kick created the havoc for Kuyt to prod in but there were too few similar situations after the break. Arsenal took control of possession but were lucky to pull level when the ball flew in off Johnson. But the England full back was guilty of hesitation to allow Arshavin to fire in and after that, there was no 'Plan B' for Liverpool as they slumped to yet another defeat.
WHAT IT MEANS:
Wenger is quite right to start talking about consistency and his bullishness after his team's 3-0 defeat at Chelsea has been vindicated to an extent but his own team fall under his claims that there is no outstanding team in the division. They have given themselves a chance but nothing more and we will learn plenty more over the next few weeks. For Liverpool it just keeps getting worse. Six league defeats tells quite a story but the division is so open that a victory over Arsenal would have caused all sorts of optimism to rise up once again. They didn't get that win but they will have to against Wigan in midweek.
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