Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal: Havertz ends 14-year Anfield wait, Gunners go three clear

Arsenal finally have their Anfield win. Kai Havertz finished a Declan Rice cross in the 16th minute on Sunday, and Mikel Arteta's side defended that lead for more than 70 minutes to beat Liverpool 1-0 – their first Premier League victory on the ground since September 2012. The result lifts Arsenal three points clear of Manchester City at the top.

How the goal came

The opening was handed to them. Alisson's loose pass into midfield was picked up by Arsenal, Rice overlapped on the right and his cross found Havertz at the far post for a close-range finish. It was the German's 46th Premier League goal, which, according to beIN Sports and ESPN, takes him past Ilkay Gündogan as the competition's highest-scoring German player.

With Bukayo Saka and William Saliba still injured, Arteta's makeshift side had less of the ball afterwards but rarely looked exposed in front of David Raya. Christos Tzolis, back from injury, forced Alisson into a save with a low drive, and Havertz slid in just too late to meet a Bruno Guimarães cross.

Liverpool pressed, but never tested Raya

Andoni Iraola's side had plenty of territory: ESPN counted 28 Liverpool touches in Arsenal's box before half-time, the most by any team in a first half against Arsenal since 2008-09. What they lacked was a finish. Florian Wirtz struck the crossbar with a free-kick, Alexis Mac Allister headed over unmarked from a Milos Kerkez delivery and Alexander Isak sliced wide early in the second half. Liverpool ended with 17 shots and not one on target.

The hosts also had a case for a penalty when Jurriën Timber pulled Isak's shirt in the box; VAR did not intervene, and Iraola was unhappy about it afterwards. A Cody Gakpo appeal was waved away as well.

The table after Sunday

The result ends Liverpool's five-game winning run in all competitions and leaves them nine points off the top (full standings):

Pos	Team	Played	Points	Goal difference
1	Arsenal	9	24	+9
2	Manchester City	9	21	+10
3	Brighton & Hove Albion	9	19	+17
4	Chelsea	9	16	+4
5	Liverpool	9	15	+2

• Arsenal: eight wins from nine league games, the only defeat a 3-0 loss at Brighton.
• Manchester City: without a win this weekend after Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Brighton.
• Liverpool: fifth, one point behind Chelsea and nine behind the leaders.

Our take

This was not a dominant Arsenal performance, and it did not need to be. Four days after a Carabao Cup exit on penalties against League Two Fleetwood Town, Arteta's side went to the ground where they had lost eight of their previous 13 league visits and won it with a weakened right flank and one early chance taken. Arteta said his players "loved the mission", as quoted by ESPN – a mission, he added, that the club had not accomplished in 14 years.

For Liverpool the warning sign is the finishing, not the effort. Seventeen shots without testing the goalkeeper is a poor return for an attack built around Isak, Wirtz and Gakpo, and a nine-point gap after nine games is already a lot to make up. Arsenal, meanwhile, have cleared one of the biggest mental hurdles on their fixture list – and they are top with Saka and Saliba still to return.

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