Arsenal did it. They finally recorded a league win at Anfield. The first since 2012. Le Grove was barely 5 years old. I had not met Matt Kandela or Johnny. I had only just started working in London. We were just settling into the idea of the Banter Era. Lukas Podolski had just made his debut for Arsenal. 14 years later, we finally banished the boogeyman with a stunning 0-1 Premier League win at Anfield.
What an occasion…
Fleetwood? Who cares now? No one. I’ll take a win at Anfield over anything the League Cup could offer up. I’m talking EVER. This result was better than an energy drink trophy lift. Don’t like my views? Sue me like Aston Villa’s Chairman picking off mean tweets. I don’t care. I won’t apologize like my ex-best friend, Jamie ‘I retweeted Le Grove’ Carragher. What a joke, can you believe a British citizen in the land of free speech caved like that? Unreal.
Arsenal were sensational in ways only a Mikel Arteta team could be.
We are the best defensive outfit in the world. Reorient yourself around being an Italian. This is how the rocks are offed. Sneak an early lead, hold onto it Italiano style, celebrate with your culturally superior handsome friends. Maybe drink an Amaro Montenegro digestif or something?
Wins like the one we produced last night are impressive. Dominance is sexy. People just don’t like the idea that our superpower is incredible defensive strength. In a league like the Premiership, this is foreign terrain. This is Pizza Express hitting a country that only knew fish and chips and cut and paste Indian food. Am I slandering the staples of British culture? No. Obviously not. But we need to accept that the crisp Peroni and Diavolo thin crust pizza under the neon blue lights of a Pizza E might just be the next level our heathen rivals are yet to experience.
Arsenal are more continental, more refined, easier on the eye… we’re a dash of chili oil next to a dump of burger sauce in a disposable plastic pot. The smash and grab approach of Arsenal looked like AC Milan vs Arsenal in the Champions League.
‘Sucker punched Arsenal’
We’ve been there so many times, now it’s Arsenal that show teams like Liverpool how it’s done. Chelsea and United might have levels to the fun that we don’t have, but football teams of pedigree they are not. Liverpool have the fun players we have banged the drum for… Wirtz, Barcola, Isak and Gakpo cost £400 million in total. How many shots on target did they register? ZERO.
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David Wall@1DavidWallOpta have analysed 442 Premier League games at Anfield, covering every season since 2003/04. This is the first time Liverpool have failed to register a shot on target in those 442 matches. via @OptaJoe6:39 PM · Nov 1, 2026 · 34.8K Views17 Replies · 92 Reposts · 399 Likes](https://x.com/1DavidWall/status/2116963417890140434?a=b37TYJvVHnjqkwcVBEA&s=20)
We have been in these types of games many times, up against it, getting pressured, being out-possessed… but didn’t that game yesterday feel different? Did you ever feel like we’d lose? Did you think at any point Liverpool would find an answer? I did not. I thought we’d see the game out and we did.
I don’t know how you want to cut things here, but we’re a systems-based team, and the Arteta system is better than anyone else’s in the Premier League. If you want to beat us, you have to be perfect, and Arsenal have to be shite. You can be led down a path that would suggest Arsenal have lesser players, but I’d disagree… I think Arsenal have players who could selfishly play at a higher level, but they’re more prepared than others to sacrifice a little bit of their greatness for the trophies.
Noni Madueke, a player who looks extremely close to being a top-class player, dropped his best outing of his short Gooner career. It was another zero G&A outing for him, but the eye test was kinder. He has the pre-assist for the Declan delivery that set the game in motion for an Arsenal win. The first half saw him under pressure defensively from Liverpool, they put 45% of their attacking energy down his side with Jurriën Timber, but it didn’t matter. I thought he was dangerous, the workrate was top class, he really looked like the better player when compared with Bradley Barcola.
Declan Rice, my word, how many more BIG UPS (sorry, it’s Ali G szn) can we give this man beast? He ran that midfield. He controlled the tempo of the game. It was a U21 player dropping into a U16 game. He was so, so dominant. His assist made him number one in the Premier League, and puts him on a clip to better Bruno Fernandes’ haul last season. Is he the one player we can’t survive without? Maybe. Maybe.
One player we thought we’d flop without was Saliba, a man you might see this Wednesday if we’re lucky. He has been covered by Ezri Konsa. Wow. What a player. What a warrior. What a performance. This guy looks like the signing of the summer. He made 14 defensive contributions. Delivered the most passes. He was the HEART of the team in a game full of players who bared their soul for the win. Honestly, I’m getting emotionally fired up about another man here.
Christos Tzolis landed the nod because Eze was a fitness doubt for the game. Rolling into an Anfield game, playing like that, and refusing to exit the game early? My kind of player. I always underestimate the Greek winger. He’s faster than I remember, the quality of his actions is better, and he’s far cleaner in 1 vs 1 situations. I thought he put in a showing that said to me he’ll be very important by the end of the season.
We can talk about some of the changes, the most important being the intro of Myles. How can I be saying things like ‘he’s better than Bruno and his sub gave us more control’ because it’s insane. But it’s true. The ball sticks to him like liquid nails to brick (tradesman readers, did I just knee-slide onto your building site?). His calmness, bravery, and ambition just open you up to a different type of game. I love him.
We should also talk about Kai Havertz. What a fu*king luxury of a player. 7 shots, zero goals against Fleetwood, but someone tells him Liverpool are at the weekend and he’s like, yes, I would like to be the BIG DAWG for this game and finish them like it was a Champions League final. Big games offer limited chances, you have to do the dogsbody work, it’s all about fight, limited action… and making the game yours when the chance arrives. He was in good positions every time we attacked well. He scored at the back post. It was all we needed. I’m VERY happy for him.
Riding that joy. There is nothing more beautiful in life than being able to hang out with friends and be honest. To talk about things of great magnitude in the culture. Like war, politics, the welfare state, reproductive rights, religion, The Godfather vs. Jurassic Park, the underratedness of Supergrass, or whether a breakfast naan at Dishoom is as wildly overrated as The Libertines in the British oeuvre. It’s hard to deny the beauty of being able to speak openly with the people you love about the most important things in society and not fall out. But Viktor Gyokeres, at Anfield, on for 6 minutes? You want me to take you seriously? You think our relationship can withstand a fork in the road so sharp the g-force broke my neck? I can’t. What a diabolical cameo. What are we doing here? What did I witness? It was pinging a beach ball at a rock. Asking St. Bernard to chase a mouse in a boutique. Watching him huff around Jacquet and VVD was like watching the final stand of a sundar deer bitten by a Komodo dragon. To quote any left-leaning political tweeter on BlueSky who has done nothing to further their cause… I’m exhausted.
But, that is the only negative I have for the day, Arsenal won, we move to the top of the table, surpassing City on points by 3, and going 9 clear of Liverpool… our likely Premier League rivals after Man City are relegated.
That was a stunning outing for Mikel Arteta. He finally slayed a Liverpool team at their house that has eluded him for many years. That is the best start to a Premier League season for Arsenal ever, and I did see rumblings that this was the best Premier League start of ALL TIME by any Premier League side.
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OptaJoe@OptaJoe24 - @Arsenal's 24 points are the most by a team after nine games of a Premier League season since the Gunners themselves in 2022-23 (also 24). Only in 2004-05 and 2007-08 have they ever had more at this stage of a PL campaign (25 in both). Hungry. 6:44 PM · Nov 1, 2026 · 166K Views38 Replies · 997 Reposts · 4.82K Likes](https://x.com/OptaJoe/status/2116964676244590890?a=5tulQymojVvpfbqN7Ik&s=20)
It’s a shame we Arsenal fans are still so negative about Arsenal because the football isn’t exactly what we want. That is very silly, who cares what you think you want, why not look at what is effective? There’s always something to complain about. But right now, we have surpassed expectations and we have been SENSATIONAL. Say it quietly, I am VERY pleased we’re not going to be flapping around in the League Cup in a quarter-final vs Brentford that’ll fall just before the United game. This is good for our season.
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KAI THE DIFFERENCE BUT DEFENCE DOMINATES! | MEMBERS FULL ACCESS 🔋
Oh my word, Arsenal put on a masterful performance at a stadium that has been very abusive over the years! The big stories are all discussed in this one.