According to a report by BBC Sport on Sunday, November 1, 2026, Declan Rice was honored as the match's most valuable player after assisting on Kai Havertz's winning goal in Arsenal's 1-0 triumph over Liverpool at Anfield.

The Gunners won their first Premier League match at Liverpool since 2012 and extended their lead to three points as a result of Manchester City's two losses to Brighton.

The team managed by Mikel Arteta got off to a good start and scored first in the 16th minute. Havertz put the away team ahead with a goal at the far post after receiving a superb pass from Rice that went across goal.

Havertz now has 46 goals for his Premier League career, passing Ilkay Gundogan (former Manchester City midfielder) for the record. Gundogan had 45 goals to his name.

In their pursuit of an equalizer, Liverpool responded by applying heavy pressure to Arsenal. Before Alexander Isak could take advantage, David Raya made a crucial intervention to get to Virgil van Dijk's flick-on.

Two penalty appeals filed by the hosts were also denied. In the penalty area, Jurrien Timber was alleged to have pulled Isak's shirt, and Cody Gakpo was taken down after a struggle with Christos Tzolis. There was no repercussion for either occurrence.

Florian Wirtz's free-kick nearly leveled the score, but it hit the crossbar, leaving Liverpool disappointed despite a promising offensive spell. Even though Liverpool kept up their pressure early in the second half, Arsenal tightened up defensively and limited the chances that the home team had.

The introduction of Myles Lewis-Skelly gave the visitors a boost in the last stages of the game. With a first-time shot toward the far corner, Christos Tzolis almost doubled Arsenal's advantage, but Alisson Becker made a fantastic one-handed save.

Despite having 17 shots on goal, Liverpool were unable to secure the victory as Arsenal maintained their lead. After the win, Arsenal now leads the league by three points, with Liverpool in fifth place, nine points laggards.

Rice, who set up Havertz for the game-winning goal, was rated 7.42 overall for his performance.