Arsenal defeated Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday to move three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Kai Havertz scored the only goal in the 16th minute, tapping in Declan Rice’s low cross after Liverpool’s attempt to play out from the back went wrong. The win was Arsenal’s first at Anfield in 14 years, ending a drought that dated back to September 2012. Liverpool pressed hard before halftime, with Florian Wirtz hitting the crossbar from a free kick and Alexis Mac Allister heading over, but failed to register a shot on target all match.
Arsenal’s victory, their eighth of the campaign, lifted them to 24 points from nine games, overtaking Manchester City, who lost at home to Brighton on Saturday. Liverpool, suffering their second league defeat of the season, dropped to fifth place, nine points behind Arsenal. The hosts had won their previous five matches since their only prior loss, also at Anfield to City on October 11.
The decisive moment stemmed from a mistake by Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker, whose short pass at a goal kick was intercepted by Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, sparking the counterattack that ended with Havertz’s finish. Havertz, now the all-time leading German scorer in the Premier League with 46 goals, surpassed former Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan’s tally of 45.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who played in Arsenal’s last win at Anfield in 2012, restored his full-strength lineup after a midweek League Cup exit to fourth-tier Fleetwood Town. “This is the magical thing about football,” Arteta said. “It’s so unpredictable, the next result.”
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola questioned the decision not to award his side a penalty for a pull on Alexander Isak’s shirt by Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber. “I don’t understand why it wasn’t a penalty,” Iraola told BBC Sport. Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai added, “Some days it feels like we are at the top, and some days it feels like we are not even close.”
