Arsenal took advantage of Manchester City's defeat by Brighton as they edged a thrilling encounter at Liverpool to move three points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Back-to-back losses for City handed the Gunners the opportunity to seize control of the title race, but they faced a difficult task against a rapidly improving Reds.

They broke the deadlock in the 16th minute when Declan Rice's ball across the face of goal was turned in by Kai Havertz at the back post.

But after that Arsenal had to withstand wave after wave of Liverpool attacks for the rest of the first half as the home side looked to get back level.

David Raya just got to Virgil van Dijk's flick-on when Alexander Isak was set to pounce and the Reds had two penalty claims waved away before Florian Wirtz crashed a free-kick against the crossbar.

Liverpool maintained their dominance early in the second half but Arsenal's defence had tightened up considerably and left very few opportunities for the Reds to exploit.

The introduction of Myles Lewis-Skelly saw Arsenal regain the momentum in the latter stages and only a brilliant one-handed save by Alisson prevented Christos Tzolis making it 2-0 with a fine first-time strike towards the far corner.

Ultimately, Havertz's early goal was enough for Arsenal to take all three points as they celebrated a first win at Liverpool in the Premier League since 2012.

The loss for Liverpool means they are fifth but nine points behind leaders Arsenal.

This game could best be described as having been defence versus attack, with Arsenal spending pretty much the entire match repelling Liverpool advances.

Scoring goals is pivotal to getting wins but so too is a strong defence, and the Gunners showed they have that in this game.

They rode their luck at times in the first half but they were nevertheless impressive at the back, keeping their discipline and shape when it may have been easy to wilt against Liverpool's strong press.

After the shock loss to League Two Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup in midweek, Arsenal needed a performance that highlighted such a display as a mere blip, and this was certainly that.

Liverpool had 17 attempts on goal but could not manage any on target and Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal players gleefully celebrated a huge win at the final whistle.

This was a defeat for Liverpool that leaves them some way off the pace in the title race, but there were still plenty of reasons for their fans to leave Anfield feeling optimistic.

The team and style of football Andoni Iraola is looking to create has become more and more obvious in the past few games and it is an exciting prospect.

Their pace on the attack and high press left Arsenal under near constant pressure in the first half, during which they had appeals for penalties waved away when Jurrien Timber pulled Isak's shirt inside the box, while Cody Gakpo went down after a tussle with Christos Tzolis.

But for all their good work in building up attacks they were just not clinical enough, with Isak - who has six goals in the Premier League this season - particularly quiet.

But they will not face a defence like Arsenal's often, and this defeat was only their second this season.