HERE is something you did not expect to read this morning. Arsenal, the side whose promise make you wish for the future, were dominated by a Liverpool player at Anfield yesterday. And the identity of this unstoppable force was not Steven Gerrard, but Peter Crouch.

The 6ft 7in striker, who is greeted by chants of "Freak" by opposition fans, proved to be just that in one sense: he frightened the Gunners back four to near impotence. The beautiful game espoused by the Arsenal youngsters going forward was dismantled by Crouch being big, difficult and, yes, deadly.

He scored his first hat-trick (right foot, header, left foot) at club level, could have had at least two more and reduced Kolo Toure and William Gallas to such rubble that visiting supporters were thinking wistfully of Philippe Senderos, a centre-half with a reputation as a mistake about to happen. Crouch dented a few reputations yesterday and pushed his side above Arsenal into third place in the Premiership.

With Daniel Agger scoring as well, the result was a comprehensive revenge for Anfield's January of despair when Arsenal put Liverpool out of the FA and League Cups. The visitors scored through Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor hit the post twice, but with a paperthin defence they would have needed six goals to feel safe.

"Defensively we were horrendous today, " Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted. "We have to realise that if we carry on like that for the rest of the season it won't work. Maybe subconsciously we think 'let's just make sure we finish in the top four' but football doesn't work like that.

You have to prepare like every game is a cup final.

"Crouch made the big difference. We couldn't handle him. He is an intelligent player and we gave him too much space. We were not compact enough as a team and we gave him the room to move between our lines. The first three crosses of the game he was on his own."

As Wenger intimated, Arsenal's vulnerability was obvious almost from the first kick. Gerrard was pushed forward as a second striker, but it was not the England captain who was rampaging round the box but his partner.

Within four minutes Jermaine Pennant flummoxed Abou Diaby and Gael Clichy with a back-heel, Alvaro Arbeola crossed to the near post and Crouch stretched his telescopic legs to score.

Crouch almost got a second 18 minutes later and it was a measure of the problems he was causing that Toure was reduced to making clumsy aerial challenges. After 35 minutes Toure pushed his luck too far. Xabi Alonso took a quick free, Fabio Aurelio crossed and Crouch rose to crash a header a la John Toshack into the top corner.

Arsenal had a dreadful first half, so it was a hint of better things to come when Adebayor turned and shot against the post after 54 minutes. A revival? A false dawn more like, as seven minutes later and Agger had a free run to glance a header home.

Again Adebayor was denied by the post and it was no more than Arsenal deserved when they got a goal back after 73 minutes. Cesc Fabregas's corner was headed on and Gallas bundled in.

A revival was not beyond question but Crouch crushed that with his third of the day and 15th of the season. Pennant passed from the right, Dirk Kuyt dummied and Crouch turned Toure for the umpteenth time before flicking the ball past Lehmann.

"We wanted to win because we are fighting for third place, " Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez said. "But after losing twice at Anfield to Arsenal we wanted to give our supporters something special."

Had Crouch guaranteed a place against PSV Eindhoven in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg?

"You know me, I like to rotate the team 99 times if I can, " he replied, his tongue in cheek.

"If he is fit he is an option but it will be a different type of game."