London (AFP) – Jostled as rarely, Arsenal absorbed the blows and put up the barbed wire to contain the fury of Liverpool (1-0), unleashed in front of their Anfield audience but too imprecise, a courageous victory synonymous with first place in the league.
Published on: 01/11/2026 - 20:29
The English champions opened the scoring early through their center forward Kai Havertz (16th) and then resisted multiple offensive attacks from the Reds, who attempted 17 shots without hitting a single one.
“We probably could have managed the match better, but the attacks were incessant,” summarized midfielder Declan Rice on Sky Sports. “In the end, this defensive line, the way we stay together, this solidarity we have is unbeatable, it’s something I’ve never seen before.”
The icing on the cake, the London club offers itself a victory steeped in history: it had not won at Liverpool since September 2012 in the Premier League, at a time when Arsène Wenger was the coach and Mikel Arteta (the current manager), the captain.
This triumph on enemy soil allows Arsenal (24 pts) to steal first place from Manchester City (2nd, 21 pts), beaten 1-0 on Saturday by Brighton (3rd, 19 pts). Liverpool (5th, 15 pts) finds itself behind Chelsea (4th, 16 pts), winner of Manchester United (2-0 Saturday).
Liverpool “tried everything”
At Anfield, his defense was shaken like never before by a Liverpool team in "heavy metal" mode, with crazy intensity at times, and which probably delivered its best match under Andoni Iraola.
But she parried all the shots, closed all the spaces, and knew how to capitalize on a rare opposing defensive error.
The visitors in fact threw themselves with greed on a very poorly negotiated six-meter, which they made profitable thanks to their high pressing then a cross from Rice taken at the far post by Havertz.
The center forward became the only German top scorer in Premier League history (46 goals), ahead of Ilkay Gündogan.
Liverpool then applied enormous pressure, continuously, notably by placing the opposing penalty area under a deluge of crosses. On one of them, signed Bradley Barcola, center forward Alexander Isak was held by the jersey without the VAR intervening (20th), a contentious action at the origin of heated debates in England.
The locals in any case failed to adjust the sights, whether on a free kick from Florian Wirtz pushed back by the bar (39th) or a header from Alexis Mac Allister, above (43rd), and it is probably this prolonged ineffectiveness which earned them the loss.
“We had a few chances, we tried everything. I think maybe we could have done a little better in the last 15 minutes of the match to get more balls into the box,” reacted captain Virgil van Dijk. “But it wasn't enough today and I'm clearly disappointed.”
Liverpool will travel to Crystal Palace while Arsenal host Hull next weekend, the last before the international break.
© 2026 AFP
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