Arsenal 1-0 Liverpool: first Anfield win in 14 years — SkimNews
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- Arsenal beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield on Super Sunday — their first win there in 14 years (Merson says 13) and a fourth straight league win — moving three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
- Kai Havertz scored the 16th-minute winner that proved enough to settle the match, and was credited with the goal that ended Arsenal's long wait for an Anfield victory.
- Liverpool were denied a single shot on target in a home league match for the first time since Opta's records began in 2003.
- David Raya was barely tested, Merson said, with Arsenal getting away with a couple of VAR decisions and the pull-back in a "defensive masterclass" in which the keeper "didn't really make a save".
- Paul Merson, who had tipped Arsenal to be beaten at Anfield, said the win showed "the mark of champions" and that he could "see nothing but an Arsenal title", sticking to his start-of-season call that they would win it by double digits after doubts raised by their 3-0 defeat at Brighton.
- Alexander Isak was denied what Merson said should have been a penalty, with Arsenal "shutting up shop" to break Liverpool down after failing to add a second goal — though Merson also said they controlled the second half at Anfield.
- Mikel Arteta was told he must go to bed thinking "wow" because every Arsenal player does what he instructs — a consistency Merson denies Michael Carrick — even as he questioned whether the side has the counter-attacking "guile" to hurt Champions League opponents, using a hypothetical 1-0 lead over PSG as his test.
Why it matters: Arsenal's first Anfield win in 14 years, with Liverpool denied a shot on target in a home league game for the first time since Opta's 2003 records began, came with Merson reversing his pre-match tip and backing a double-digit title margin. Three points clear after four league wins, the open question he leaves is their Champions League counter-attack.
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