Havertz Ends Arsenal’s 14-Year Anfield Wait as Gunners Go Top

Arsenal moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League on Sunday with a 1-0 win at Liverpool — their first league victory at Anfield in 14 years. Kai Havertz's 16th-minute strike settled a tense encounter and made the German the highest-scoring German in Premier League history with 46 goals.

The defending champions had to survive a storm after the early opener. Liverpool, under Andoni Iraola, produced arguably their best spell of his short reign in the half-hour after conceding, but could not find a way through, with Alisson Becker also needed at the other end to keep out a Christos Tzolis effort that was heading for the bottom corner.

The win takes Arsenal to 24 points from nine matches — their best start since 2022-23 — while Liverpool stay fifth on 15 points, nine behind the leaders, and already facing a long climb back into the title race. Manchester City, beaten at home by Brighton on Saturday, sit second on 21.

A statement of resilience

Four days after a humbling League Cup exit to fourth-tier Fleetwood Town, this was exactly the response Mikel Arteta needed. Arsenal's defensive organisation held firm under sustained pressure, and an eighth win in nine league games underlines why they are champions.

Liverpool's home problem

Liverpool have now scored just four goals in five home league games this season — their joint-fewest at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 1913-14 — and that blunt edge at Anfield is becoming the defining frustration of their season.

Source: AFP / BBC Sport