Arsenal's 1-0 win at Liverpool on Sunday is still setting the agenda, with Declan Rice crediting a frank pre-season discussion with Mikel Arteta for his current form and Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola arguing that his own players must go to ground if they want penalties given.

Kai Havertz scored the only goal at Anfield, converting after an Alisson Becker error in the 16th minute, according to Football.London. Arsenal had not won a league match on Merseyside for 14 years before this result, which also sent them to the summit of the table.

Rice credits Arteta's 'honest conversation'

Rice set up the winner and now has five Premier League assists this season, the most in the division, Daily Cannon reports. The outlet adds that every one of those assists has come from open play, following suggestions last season that set-pieces had inflated his numbers.

Speaking after the match, Rice said Arteta had challenged him before the campaign started. "I think the manager had a really honest conversation with me at the start of the season and still thinks I can do more in this shirt and for this club," he said.

Rice said that overlapping runs had been a topic of discussion in the preparations for the Liverpool match, and that he and Havertz had talked about moving into the box with genuine aggression. He said Havertz was there to convert and nearly repeated the same action later in the match.

Havertz, for his part, gave the credit away, saying the "brilliant overlap and perfect cross" had left him with an easy finish, Daily Cannon reports.

Iraola: 'you have to dive'

Much of the post-match discussion centred on a first-half incident in which Jurrien Timber pulled Alexander Isak's shirt as the striker moved to meet a cross, the Mirror and Football.London report. Referee Andy Madley gave no penalty and VAR did not intervene, with Isak staying on his feet rather than going down.

Iraola said he would tell his players to fall in future. "It's a shame you ask me this question, but honestly, yes, we have to tell them, go down, because they're not going to call it otherwise," he said. In a BBC interview he added: "If you don't dive they are not going to call it."

The Liverpool boss also felt Cody Gakpo had grounds for a spot-kick after a tussle with Christos Tzolis, though he accepted the ball had been too long for the winger to reach. He said he was unhappy with his side's level before the goal but praised their response once they trailed.

The Mirror's column sided with Jamie Carragher's argument that VAR should act regardless of how a player reacts, and argued that the technology has added another layer of human error rather than removing it.

Arteta on the shutout and the Fleetwood response

Liverpool did not register a single shot on target at home for the first time since Opta records began in 2003, according to the Evening Standard. Florian Wirtz hit the bar from a free-kick, but Arsenal otherwise kept their hosts at bay.

Arteta said he had not known about the statistic. "I didn't know about that stat, but that's incredible," he said, while praising Liverpool's set-up and saying the manner of their play made winning at Anfield worthy of extra credit. He added that it had not felt that way from the touchline, given the small margins when the hosts worked shooting opportunities.

The Arsenal manager also framed the performance as a reaction to the midweek Carabao Cup exit to Fleetwood Town on penalties, a result he said had been treated as "the end of the world". He pointed out that his side had 27 shots in that game against opponents who managed one on target.

Slavia Prague next

Arsenal return to Champions League action on Wednesday, travelling to face Slavia Prague at the Fortuna Arena, with kick-off at 20:00 UK time.

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