Arsenal won 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday, and Ashley Williams has declared the title race over as a contest. The former Premier League defender says it is “a one-horse race”. Is he right, or is nine games too early?
Kai Havertz’s first-half goal was enough to give Arsenal their first league win at Anfield since 2012. It left them three points clear of Manchester City, with Liverpool nine points behind. Brighton and Chelsea are five points off the pace. Arsenal have 24 points from nine matches, the best return at this stage of a Premier League season by any side since the Gunners managed the same tally in 2022/23, according to talkSPORT’s report.
Williams: “just Arsenal”
Speaking on The Final Word, Williams said he had changed his mind more than once. “Before the season started I said it was a one-horse race and then I thought maybe it wasn’t but now I’m back to thinking it’s just Arsenal,” he said. He does not expect Brighton to keep pace, and he described the result as “a bit of a statement win”.
His reasoning was about method, not flair. “We’ve become accustomed to this; Arsenal get the job done,” Williams said, adding that Arsenal defended well and created more chances. His broader point was that Anfield is a place where champions have to dig in: “You go there, you dig in, you get your points, you get back on the bus happy.”
Mikel Arteta struck a similar note about the weight of the occasion. “It’s been a long time, it’s been too long,” he said. He also linked the win to Tuesday’s Carabao Cup exit at Fleetwood: He said that after the cup exit, being able to “perform, compete and earn the right to win the game” four days later at Anfield said a lot about the game.
The case against calling it over
There is an obvious counter-argument, and it is arithmetic. Three points over Manchester City after nine games is a lead, not an escape. Arsenal’s one defeat this season came at Brighton, and a season has 29 more matches in it. We reported last month that Jamie Carragher saw Arsenal as “the team to stop”, which is a firm view but not the same as saying nobody can stop them.
It is also worth noting that Williams has already reversed himself once this season, by his own account. That is not a criticism; it is a reminder that title-race verdicts in early November tend to be written in pencil.
The Madueke flashpoint
The other debate from Anfield was Noni Madueke. In the second half, he and Alexis Mac Allister squared up after a foul on Martin Odegaard, and Madueke appeared to lean his head towards the Liverpool midfielder before falling. VAR checked it and left the referee’s decision alone. The Premier League Match Centre quoted the VAR as saying: “There is some contact as Madueke and Mac Allister square-up. In my opinion, it’s not forceful, not violent, not brutal.”
Williams disagreed. “No, I’m not having it, I’m not having it,” he said. “Your head has been touched a little bit. If I touch your head now with that much force, you ain’t going down like that.” He also argued Madueke had been quick to complain about Odegaard going down moments earlier.
The difference between the two views is a useful one. The officials judged force; Williams judged intent and reaction. Madueke had also been booked in the 55th minute for a foul on Bradley Barcola, which is why the question of a second card carried weight.
Either way, Arsenal’s early lead and their defensive discipline mattered more than the flashpoint. Our earlier piece on Jonathan Wilson on Arteta’s dossier looked at the other storyline around the club this week.
The title race may well end up as Williams predicts. But the evidence so far is eight wins in nine and a three-point lead, which is excellent, and not yet conclusive.
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