Vicky Jepson said Liverpool “have too much quality in our squad to worry,” after defeat by Arsenal extended their league run to seven without a win.

Vivianne Miedema scored her fourth league goal of the season to give the Women’s Super League champions victory but Liverpool’s performance was impressively resilient.

“You saw Bristol lose 7-1 here midweek. Look at the quality in our squad and the way we’ve held them out. I’ve got no worry whatsoever and neither have the players. It’s too early to talk about the table. We’ve got a tough run now but we’ll be OK this season because we’ve got too much quality.”

Arsenal’s manager, Joe Montemurro, agreed. “I have been saying this for the last three or four weeks. They have got a very good squad, a very, very good squad. I don’t like commenting on other teams and so on but it is very surprising. I think they will pick up points and they will get themselves out of that position,” he said.

Liverpool, though, are still in trouble. If a draw against Bristol City on 13 October followed by a 5-1 win at Coventry United in the Continental Cup gave hopes of a change in fortune, they were only faint. Three defeats later, the last before this a bruising loss to Everton at Anfield, and they remain rock bottom of the WSL with a single point.

A six-goal spree against Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup was unlikely to ease fears ahead of an increasingly daunting visit to the free-scoring champions.

Arsenal v Liverpool: Women's Super League – as it happened Read more

Liverpool have been in almost constant turmoil since club backing for the team waned after back-to-back WSL championship titles in 2013 and 2014 – the first of which toppled Arsenal off a nine season run. Jepson was eventually handed the reins and, while perhaps her biggest battle is going on off-field, the team on the pitch, despite the limitations – only three signings allowed in the summer, for example – should be doing better.

Jepson, though, was positive. “We’re in a good place; it’s taken time,” she said. “We were guilty of falling behind and the club’s responded to that. It may be a bit reactive but Rome wasn’t built in a day.

“We’ve got a full back room staff now which I’m pleased to see. We’ve got a fantastic new physical performance coach, which pushes our girls to another level, and you can see that on the pitch with how we manage to run when out of possession.”

Arsenal may have scored 16 goals in their past four games against their opponents but at Borehamwood the gap between the teams seemed smaller than the stats suggested.

“We do a lot of work in the classroom on togetherness,” said Jepson when asked about how they deal with that mental toll. “We’ve got a good group cohesion. Nobody points fingers. I have an open door policy, so players can always come and speak to me. We spend a lot of time picking players up if we’ve identified that they are lacking confidence. We’ve spent the last couple of weeks always reinforcing to positives.”

With Jade Bailey and Rhiannon Roberts shielding the back four, the visitors’ front four were free to harry and press Arsenal, disturbing the Gunners’ rhythm and forcing Kim Little so deep she was almost slotted between the centre-backs.

The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.

Inside 10 minutes Liverpool could have taken a shock lead. Becky Jane lofted a free-kick from inside her own half into the path of Sophie Bradley-Auckland but Manuela Zinsberger did brilliantly to turn her first-time effort on to the inside of a post and away.

Emma Hayes: ‘The WSL is the best league in the world. This is a utopia’ | Suzanne Wrack Read more

Before the half-hour, though, Arsenal broke through, a back to front movement that began when Leah Williamson played through the middle to Jill Roord near the centre circle and was finished by Miedema dancing past Leighanne Robe and firing coolly past Anke Preuss.

Though Liverpool are struggling for a first league win, they are not getting thumped each week either. Of their five league defeats before their trip to London, only two have been by a margin greater than one, both 2-0 to Birmingham and Manchester United. Now, with more positive performances under their belt, there is a feeling that they are on the verge of turning things round.

Chelsea run riot

Chelsea remain a point clear of Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the WSL after a 6-0 thumping of Birmingham. Two goals apiece from Beth England and Drew Spence added to Ji So Yun and Millie Bright’s first-half goals to leave the Blues two points above Liverpool at the bottom. Five goals at Bristol City ensured Manchester City kept pace with the league leaders, with a Pauline Bremer double contributing. Leah Galton joined Bremer, England and Spence with two goals of her own, as Manchester United beat Brighton 4-0. Reading launched a 75th-minute comeback against West Ham, scoring three times in seven minutes while down to 10 players to earn a 3-2 victory. Everton stay above United, in fourth, after a 3-1 victory over Tottenham – their third league win in a row. Suzanne Wrack