Arsenal's discipline at Anfield ends 13 year away day hoodoo
Arsenal had not won at Anfield in their previous 13 visits before Sunday, a run stretching back years and including painful late collapses. This time, Mikel Arteta's side made sure history did not repeat itself.
Kai Havertz's second half strike proved the only goal of the game, but the real story was what came after it. As the Guardian's John Brewin wrote, Arteta 'followed the orthodoxy of locking down once his team took the lead' and, crucially, it worked.
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A different story to 2023
The comparison to April 2023 is unavoidable. Back then, Arsenal led 2-0 at Anfield before Granit Xhaka's tangle with Trent Alexander-Arnold ignited the home crowd and the game finished 2-2, a result that proved costly in that season's title race.
There was no repeat on this occasion. Brewin noted that 'Arsenal did not allow the occasion or the stadium to get to them as they have on previous occasions,' with the away side's defensive organisation standing out even as Liverpool pushed for an equaliser.
Liverpool, managed by Andoni Iraola, 'zipped around zestfully' in search of a way back into the game but could not fashion a single shot on target across the full 90 minutes. The report pointed out that this left Iraola's side with 'zero margin for the errors that preceded Kai Havertz's decisive goal.'
Context from the table
The win keeps Arsenal top of the Premier League after nine games, on 24 points with a goal difference of plus nine, nine clear of Liverpool in fifth. Manchester City sit second on 21 points, with Brighton a further two points back in third after their own win at the Etihad.
For Liverpool, the picture is less encouraging. The Guardian suggested their campaign 'risks becoming a developmental one, a time to regroup and rethink rather than challenging for the title,' pointing to issues including Florian Wirtz's wayward finishing, Alexander Isak's struggles to press as his manager demands, and inconsistency from Milos Kerkez.
The piece also referenced Brighton's 3-0 win over Arsenal before the last international break as a template other sides might look to follow, though it noted Liverpool's current squad may lack the attacking volume to replicate that approach as effectively as Brighton or Bournemouth have managed this season.
For Arsenal, the result represents more than three points. Breaking a 13 visit winless run at a ground that has historically troubled them, while doing so through defensive control rather than a late scare, offers a marker of how far Arteta's side have developed as the season reaches its first quarter mark.
