It is often said that the biggest matches are decided only by the moment of brilliance. And the confrontation between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield Stadium is the clearest proof.
The earliest encounter in the past 8 years between the two Premier League top candidates was as tense as predicted. And the match was decided in the final minutes with a perfect free kick from Dominik Szoboszlai.
Arsenal entered the match without Bukayo Saka, while captain Martin Odegaard was fit enough to sit on the bench. From the start, they suffered further losses when William Saliba was forced off the field in the 5th minute. This was Arsenal's earliest Premier League substitution since Laurent Koscielny (4, against Everton in November 2012).
Losing 3 important stars, it seemed that the "Gunners" would face countless difficulties against the defending champion. However, they were the team that played more impressively in the first half. The Gunners built an extremely solid defense, keeping Liverpool's spearheads quiet, and only allowed the home team to launch 2 shots.
This is the fewest shots Liverpool have had in a half at Anfield since October 2021 (against Man City - 1 shot). After last week's match against Newcastle, which also included just two shots in the first half, this was the first time The Kop have had similar statistics in two consecutive matches since January 24.
Liverpool's best first-half chance came from Virgil van Dijk. The "Red Brigade" captain stole the ball in the opponent's half, but instead of finishing right at the edge of the penalty area, he chose to pass the ball and the situation quickly passed.
On the other hand, Arsenal created a threat mainly from set pieces.Noni Madueke - who stood out for his first time starting on the right wing - and Riccardo Calafiori both had clear chances.
However, without Saka taking corners, their set pieces became less dangerous.Declan Rice was forced to take on the task of taking a corner kick from the right wing with his bad foot.
In the second half, Liverpool improved the game but were still stuck in creating clear opportunities. They put the ball into the net in the 60th minute, but Florian Wirtz's goal was disallowed because Cody Gakpo was offside when participating in the situation.
The most impressive is still the resilience of Arsenal's defense. Mohamed Salah had to wait until the 73rd minute to make his first shot - a situation with an xG of 0.04 and was quickly blocked by Calafiori. Hugo Ekitike even left the field in the 79th minute without a shot, only touching the ball once in the opponent's penalty area.
Against a tightly organized Arsenal, Liverpool were forced to wait for a magical moment. And Szoboszlai has brought that.
This was Arsenal's first goal of the 2025-2026 season so far. The Gunners are barely worth conceding a goal in this match, but they also showed the same familiar concern as last season. That is, focusing too much on defense and not daring to escape the safety zone to attack more.
For Liverpool, Szoboszlai's goal has extended their Premier League scoring streak to 37 consecutive matches - the longest in the club's history.
They will enter their first international break with excitement as the only team to win all in the Premier League, leading the rankings and saving for another championship.
"If you play for Liverpool, you get a lot of compliments and sometimes you get a little criticism, that's not a problem. They played excellently today. You have to play excellently against Arsenal because of all the attack threats they have.
The harder we work, the more luck we have. And that is what I think you can say about this team," said Arne Slot after the match.
