Antonio Conte obviously won’t come out and say it, but the unmistakable feeling from everyone around Chelsea in the last few days has been that Arsenal should be ready for a fierce backlash. There’s just been that controlled intensity around Cobham, that sense of readiness to rectify something.

The Italian will willingly say that that ‘something’ - specifically, the nature of September’s 3-0 defeat at the Emirates - was “a shock”. So much so, in fact, that he repeated the word four times when asked.

“Yes, for me it was a shock for sure,” Conte said. “When this happened, it was a shock for me. I tried to transfer this shock onto my players, to avoid it happening again in the future, to repeat it. For sure, though, it was a great shock for me.”

It obviously had a great impact on him, too. Earlier on in his Friday press conference, Conte had even admitted he still dwells on that humiliation. “It was a bad defeat, 3-0 after the first half, and in my mind, it’s always present, this defeat. I hope also in the minds of my players.”

Conte should have no worries about that. Those close to the Chelsea squad say it especially irritated the players to lose to a team they so often beat, particularly in the humiliating way that it happened. Nine of the 14 players Conte used that day had never actually been on a pitch during a competitive defeat to Arsenal outside of the 2015 Community Shield. They are determined to restore that old order to the rivalry.

For a demanding perfectionist like Conte, though, it seems like it was the sense of disorder from the September performance that really pained him. You could understand why. He was less used to a situation like that than the Chelsea players were. While they may not have lost to Arsenal in a competitive game since October 2011, the Italian hadn’t lost any competitive game by three goals since October 2010, when his Siena were beaten 3-0 away to Empoli. Worse was the exact nature of the Emirates match, and how Chelsea were completely wiped out by half-time.

“Usually, my teams are not used to conceding three goals after the first half,” Conte said. “I don’t want this. We work a lot to avoid this.”

The one other three-goal aberration in those six years was when Conte’s Italy lost 4-1 to Germany in a Euro 2016 warm-up match but, aside from the fact that was a mere friendly as he tried to figure out his best team for France, memory of that was cleansed by their actual performances at the tournament itself.

That’s the thing with this game, too. Beyond the fact it was Arsenal that beat the Chelsea players in such a way, it feels like Conte himself wants to right that wrong, to cleanse the record of his season by having an appropriate response to a game like that.

Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Simon Mignolet - 6 out of 10 Horrendously at fault for Chelsea's opener but made amends by saving Costa's late penalty. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Nathaniel Clyne - 7 out of 10 Performed well at the back after passing a fitness test, he was unable to get forward to support the attack. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Joel Matip - 7 out of 10 Impressed in his individual battle with Costa, but gave away a penalty when ran at in the area. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Dejan Lovren - 6 out of 10 Guilty of some major lapses in concentration when given too much time on the ball. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings James Milner - 7 out of 10 The makeshift defender got up and down well, and showed great awareness in setting up Wijnaldum's equaliser. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Georginio Wijnaldum - 7 out of 10 Troubled Chelsea with his late runs into the box, and netted his side's equaliser. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Jordan Henderson - 8 out of 10 Led by example. Pivotal in the move from which his side equalised and denied Pedro with a brilliant late challenge. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Emre Can - 6 out of 10 An improved performance in midfield, but offered little in terms of creativity. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Adam Lallana - 6 out of 10 A quiet night for the midfielder who still managed to show off some lovely touches. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Roberto Firmino - 6 out of 10 Kept Chelsea's defenders busy but was wasteful with two glorious chances. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Philippe Coutinho - 7 out of 10 Played 75 minutes as he continues his comeback from injury, there were glimpses of the ingenuity Liverpool have been missing in his absence. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Thibaut Courtois - 6 out of 10 Few saves to make although the Belgian showed his opposite number the best way to organise a defence. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Cesar Azpilicueta - 7 out of 10 Tracked his opponents superbly well in defence, and didn't give Coutinho many moments to shine. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings David Luiz - 8 out of 10 Solid at the back, he showed initiative and ability in scoring his first goal since rejoining the club. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Gary Cahill - 7 out of 10 Found himself under little pressure, he was a dominant force with the ball in the air. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Victor Moses - 6 out of 10 Pinned back by Milner's eagerness, he snatched at the chances that did fall his way in the attacking third. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings N'Golo Kante - 8 out of 10 Didn't give Liverpool's midfield a moment's peace, his engine ran all the way to the final whistle. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Nemanja Matic - 6 out of 10 Kept his position in front of the defence, mopping up any danger that presented itself. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Marcos Alonso - 6 out of 10 Quiet in attack after recent heroics, he was needed to perform defensive duties as Chelsea dropped deep. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Willian - 7 out of 10 Responsible for a number of testing deliveries into the Liverpool penalty area that his teammates failed to make the most of. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Eden Hazard - 7 out of 10 Oozed class when on the ball - if only it had been more often. Eventually replaced by Pedro. Liverpool vs Chelsea player ratings Diego Costa - 6 out of 10 On the fringes of the contest, his showed both sides to his game when he won and then missed a late penalty.

The grand irony is that, when it eventually comes to the entire record of Conte’s time at Stamford Bridge, that Arsenal match might well be one of the key moments. It might well be what Paul Breitner once described to The Independent as “one of the most important defeats you can have”.

The German great had been talking about how Bayern Munich’s 4-0 defeat to Ajax in March 1973 was a crucial match in the development of the team into repeat European champions, because the severity of the humiliation brought instant clarity over what was required to take the next step. “You understand what you have, or what you have to improve.”

That Arsenal defeat undeniably offered a moment of clarity for Conte, and perhaps even more starkly than had been realised. The 47-year-old’s switch to 3-4-3 in the second half of that game has been much discussed this season, but less known was that Chelsea had barely even practised it before then. He claimed on Friday that the change during the game was “the first time” it had been used.

I knew that I had the players… but we’d never tried this solution in our training sessions. Antonio Conte

“I’d like to tell you the truth: in my mind, there was this option. I knew that I had the players… but we’d never tried this solution in our training sessions. I always played with four at the back, then 4-2-4, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3...” Then, finally, in a game where everything was going wrong, he played with a 3-4-3 that ensured everything just fitted so well.

A further irony, however, is that it would be wrong to say it immediately clicked. That actually took another week, and the in-game tests of another Premier League match. If Conte had never worked on 3-4-3 as his primary system before the trip to the Emirates, they properly began in the week after it, but still found problems. It didn’t actually work that well in training sessions, and some of the players didn’t really know where to run. The manager’s hands-on instructions hadn’t yet sunk in, and some felt they weren’t ready to use it in a game.

That seemed all too obvious at half-time of the very next match against Hull City, as Chelsea toiled 0-0 at half-time. Willian then scored on the hour, Diego Costa followed, and the team’s time had seemingly come.

Chelsea were comprehensively outplayed by Arsenal earlier this season, yet have dominated the division ever since (Getty)

It was a classic case of the simple confidence provided by a win also offering just enough trust in more complex ideas to make them properly cohere. From there, Chelsea’s 3-4-3 has been so coherent that it seems nothing - not defeats to Spurs, not controversy over Diego Costa - can really disrupt it.

Conte does not just want coherence on Saturday, though. He wants full conviction, and maybe more on top of that. “Arsenal beat us already in the first game, and they have the possibility to repeat this in this game. For this reason, we must be focused, stay in great concentration, and have the same anger, the same will to fight and try to win.”