Havertz wins it at Anfield, Liverpool put none of 17 shots on target

Andy Madley refereed a 16:30 kick-off at Anfield, and both managers picked a four-two-three-one. Andoni Iraola put Mac Allister and Nyoni in front of a Liverpool back four of Araujo, Jacquet, van Dijk and Kerkez, with Gakpo, Wirtz and Barcola behind Isak. Mikel Arteta paired Rice with Bruno Guimarães, set Madueke, Ødegaard and Tzolis behind Havertz, and picked Timber, Konsa, Gabriel Magalhães and Calafiori across the back. Alisson Becker and David Raya kept goal.

Havertz scored in the 16th minute with Rice credited with the assist, and it proved to be the only goal of the game. Liverpool reached half-time behind, and the first half produced just one card, Barcola's booking at 45+2.

The second half filled up with bookings and changes. Madueke was booked in the 55th minute. Iraola sent on Szoboszlai for Nyoni in the 59th, and Arteta answered in the 62nd with Lewis-Skelly for Bruno Guimarães. Kerkez was booked in the 67th, the same minute Ngumoha replaced Gakpo. Lewis-Skelly was shown a yellow in the 72nd, and Mac Allister and Timber were both booked in the 80th.

Iraola then made three changes in a single minute. In the 81st, Koumas replaced Wirtz, Víctor Muñoz replaced Araujo and Tsimikas came on for Kerkez, who was already carrying a booking. Arteta took off Havertz and Tzolis for Gyökeres and Hincapié in the 84th, then Ødegaard for Mikel Merino in the 88th. David Raya was booked at 90+3 and van Dijk at 90+7.

The numbers describe a home side that pinned Arsenal back without a shot on target. Liverpool had 17 shots to Arsenal's 10, and none of theirs was on target: eight were off target and nine were blocked. Arsenal put three of their 10 on target. Liverpool also had 48 touches in the opposition box to 23, delivered 33 crosses to 10 and won seven corners to four.

Arsenal's figures belong to a team guarding something. They made 36 clearances to Liverpool's 22, played 67 long balls to 46, won 16 tackles to 11 and 63 duels to 58, and covered 121.4km to 113.1km. Liverpool kept the ball better, completing 377 of 461 passes at 81.8 per cent against Arsenal's 269 of 370 at 72.7 per cent. They also committed 18 fouls to 10 and won 25 aerial duels to 17.

Expected goals gave Liverpool slightly the better of the chances, 1.15 to 0.96. The shots-on-target line tells the rest, and it decided the game: Liverpool never once made David Raya stop a shot. Nine blocked attempts is a lot of Arsenal bodies arriving in the right place, and the 36 clearances say the same thing from the other end of the ball. Arsenal had less of the ball and fewer shots. They kept the only goal, and at Anfield that is the part that counts.

Liverpool had won one of the three Premier League meetings listed here, and the other two were drawn. Liverpool won 1-0 at home in August 2025, the sides drew 2-2 at Liverpool in May 2025, and the January 2026 game at Arsenal finished goalless. Arsenal had won none of the meetings listed.

In the table as it stood at 18:30 on the day, with this match included, Arsenal were top of the Premier League on 24 points from nine games, with Manchester City second on 21. Liverpool were fifth on 15 points from nine games.