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Not satisfied with earning three precious points at Anfield, Arsenal defender Piero Hincapié couldn't help taking a further dig at defeated Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk with just three words.
"I don't forget..." Hincapié posted on Instagram alongside three images, the last of which was a tightly cropped, AI-generated photo of the golden Premier League badge on his yellow Arsenal shirt. Unfortunately for the Ecuadorian international, he had failed to carefully examine the AI's output, which had mistakenly printed "no roam for racism" on the sleeve.
The connection to a social media post Van Dijk had shared back in January wasn't difficult to make — following a dull draw with the Gunners, the Dutch defender had zoomed in on that very same league badge (free of any AI errors) while Liverpool were still reigning champions.
Van Dijk's original post has since been flooded with comments, likely from Arsenal supporters, reminding the center-back that they, too, remember the subtle jab buried among several more heartfelt messages.
Liverpool's captain had primarily been acknowledging the serious injury suffered by teammate Conor Bradley during that match: "We are a team, we are friends but most importantly we are a family," he wrote in the caption, mirroring the closing line of a handwritten note from a fan.
It was a cheap shot from a player who had far better reasons to celebrate than spending his evening tinkering with ChatGPT.
Declan Rice Makes Divisive Call of Champions
Declan Rice, who cleverly set up Kai Havertz's winning goal in a lightning-fast start for the away side, praised the determination his teammates showed throughout the remaining 75 minutes, which were largely controlled by the hosts. The dynamic midfielder had no hesitation in declaring it a champions' performance.
"For sure," Rice confirmed when asked about it in the post-match mixed zone. "It's just drilled into us. What the manager [Mikel Arteta] has built at this club and the togetherness of the lads—you don't get that performance without the lads being all together.
"The way the manager has everything under control, the way everyone works towards everything he wants is not like anything I've ever seen before. So credit to us for what we have been doing for the last few years. Now it's a massive thing to deliver again this year."
"We had to dig in and give it everything because they throw so many attacks at you," Rice added. "We had to be resilient and strong. It was a great win."
That is certainly one way of looking at it. Yet it could just as easily be argued that retreating into a defensive shell after scoring so early is hardly the hallmark of champions. Liverpool entered the danger zone in front of Arsenal's goal 26 times at Anfield — the most any side has managed against the Gunners since Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final, a match where sitting on a lead proved costly.
While Arsenal look to maintain their grip on the biggest occasions, Hincapié might want to spend some time refining his AI prompts.