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Declan Rice says Sunday's 1-0 win at Liverpool is how champions play, and the description fits a match Arsenal won without having the better of the ball or the chances. "We had to dig in," he said, and he praised the grit and determination of the players around him. Rice set up Kai Havertz for the only goal on 16 minutes, but his physicality and his reading of the game out of possession arguably did more to win it than the assist.
On Sunday Liverpool had 56% of the ball and took 17 shots to Arsenal's 10, but only one of theirs was on target against Arsenal's three, even though Liverpool finished ahead on expected goals. A side that holds Liverpool to a single effort on target at Anfield has won the game in its own box as much as in theirs. That's the work Rice did best, and it's why his reading of the win as a champion's performance is the right one.
Liverpool were unhappy about a 21st-minute shirt-pull by Jurriën Timber on Alexander Isak that didn't bring a penalty. Anger in the Kop at the free-kicks Arsenal kept winning is easy to believe, but it's a hard complaint to press when Liverpool's own players were hitting the floor cheaply now and then too. David Raya was booked for time-wasting in the 92nd minute as Arsenal closed it out, which is a card worth collecting at 1-0 at Anfield. Szoboszlai said afterwards that fine margins separate the teams, and on Sunday Arsenal stayed on the right side of every one of them.
Havertz's goal on Sunday was his 46th in the Premier League, and one count says it took him past Ilkay Gündogan as the league's record German scorer, although another had him reaching that mark in September. The win leaves Arsenal top on 24 points from nine games after Monday's matches, ahead of second-placed Manchester City on 21. Rice says the side are ready for more wins like this one, and the next two come in four days, at Slavia Prague in the Champions League on Wednesday and at home to Hull City on Saturday.
Supporters can now vote for the men's October Player of the Month.
For Arsenal Women, Emily Fox has reached 100 appearances for the club, and she's one of four Arsenal players on the women's FIFPRO World 11 shortlist announced today.
In the academy, new director Pascal De Maesschalck says recruitment is the most important part of the job, and the U19s play in Prague on Wednesday afternoon in a game that's being streamed.
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