Kai Havertz became the highest-scoring German in Premier League history on Sunday, November 1, scoring the only goal as Arsenal won 1-0 at Liverpool. His 46th goal in the competition moved him past Ilkay Gundogan and sent the champions back to the top of the table.
FINAL: Liverpool 0, Arsenal 1. Havertz tapped in Declan Rice’s low cross in the 16th minute at Anfield, and Arsenal held on for their first Premier League win at the ground in 14 years, opening a three-point lead over Manchester City at the summit and a nine-point gap over fifth-placed Liverpool.
How to watch: Liverpool vs Arsenal, Sunday, November 1, 2026, 11:30 a.m. ET at Anfield, Liverpool
TV (Canada): Fubo Sports Network
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The Goal That Broke The German Premier League Scoring Record
The record arrived from a Liverpool mistake. Alisson Becker’s attempted pass put centre-back Jeremy Jacquet in trouble, Arsenal seized the loose ball and moved it quickly to the right, where Noni Madueke and Declan Rice combined, and Rice’s precise low cross reached Havertz at the far post for a simple finish. Opta recorded the milestone as soon as it landed: “46 – Kai Havertz is now the all-time leading German goalscorer in the Premier League (46 goals), overtaking Ilkay Gundogan (45).”
What followed was one of the most uncomfortable halves Arsenal have survived in recent seasons. Liverpool had 28 touches inside the Arsenal box before half-time, the most the Gunners have ever faced in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League game, and saw four penalty appeals waved away. The loudest came when Jurrien Timber tugged Alexander Isak’s shirt as the striker tried to meet a header, a pull the officials did not punish. Florian Wirtz curled a free-kick onto the crossbar, and Alexis Mac Allister headed over unmarked, but for all of Liverpool’s 17 efforts across the match, David Raya did not have to make a single save. Sky Sports noted it was the first time on record that Liverpool had failed to register a shot on target in a home game.
Gary Neville, calling the game for Sky Sports, summed up the away performance in one line: “It was a defensive masterclass.” He added: “They can only do the job they continue to do and that puts them right in the driving seat. What a tough place this is to play football and they’ve come and conquered it.” Alisson gave Liverpool a late route back into the contest with a stunning save from Christos Tzolis, whose shot was arrowing into the bottom corner, but Arsenal rode out the closing stages for another clean sheet and an eighth win in nine league games.
The German List Havertz Now Leads
The numbers behind the record span two London clubs and six seasons in England. Havertz scored 19 Premier League goals for Chelsea after arriving from Bayer Leverkusen, and Sunday’s tap-in was his 27th for Arsenal, in 172 Premier League appearances in total. Gundogan needed 221 appearances to reach 45 for Manchester City. Havertz’s best single season remains 2023-24, when he scored 13 league goals in his first year at Arsenal, and this was his third goal of the 2026-27 campaign, after home strikes against Coventry City and Chelsea. The Chelsea goal in September had drawn him level with Gundogan on 45; the Anfield finish moved him clear on his own.
The rest of the all-time German list underlines how far ahead the top two now sit. Brighton’s Pascal Gross is third with 34, one ahead of Mesut Ozil on 33, and then come Jurgen Klinsmann and Uwe Rosler on 29 each, Leroy Sane on 25, Brentford’s Kevin Schade on 24, Robert Huth on 21 and Lukas Podolski on 19. At 27, Havertz is younger than every player behind him on that list was when their Premier League scoring stopped, and as Arsenal’s first-choice centre-forward he has time to put real distance between himself and the field.
Redemption After Fleetwood, And A 14-Year Wait Ended
The timing made the goal bigger than the record. Five days earlier, Havertz had been one of the biggest culprits as Arsenal crashed out of the League Cup at fourth-tier Fleetwood Town, wasting chance after chance in one of the biggest shocks in the competition’s history. Mikel Arteta still picked him ahead of Viktor Gyokeres at Anfield, and the faith was repaid inside 16 minutes. Havertz told Sky Sports afterwards: “I think it means a lot to our football club. It’s important to our fans. That’s what they deserve, and I think we’re all happy that we gave it to them.”
Arteta knows exactly how long the wait had been. He was in the Arsenal midfield the last time the club won a league game at Anfield, in September 2012, and this was his first victory there as a manager. For Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola, who played alongside Arteta as a boy for Basque side Antiguoko, it was only a second defeat in 14 games since arriving from Bournemouth, and it came with all three of his 100 million pound forwards, Isak, Wirtz and Bradley Barcola, starting together. Liverpool, the side Arsenal succeeded as champions, are already nine points behind the leaders.
Records by nationality can look like footnotes, but this one was scored at Anfield, decided a top-of-the-table match, ended a 14-year drought and put the defending champions clear at the top. Havertz now owns a mark that Gundogan, Ozil and Klinsmann all held or chased, and every goal he scores from here extends a record that is his alone.
