Rice: Liverpool win boosts Arsenal’s hopes of title defence

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said ending a 14-year winless Premier League run at Anfield strengthened confidence they can retain their title but stressed the players will not get carried away.

The 1-0 victory not only ended a barren spell stretching back to 2012 but also took Mikel Arteta – who played in the last team to win at Liverpool in the league – back to the top of the table, three points ahead of Manchester City and nine ahead of their fifth-placed opponents.

Asked whether the victory had bolstered belief of being able to go back-to-back, Rice said: “Yeah, I think any team who has won here in the past has never had it easy.

“It’s always going to be tough coming to Anfield so we had to dig in, we had to give it everything because they throw so many attacks at you.

“We had to be resilient and strong. It’s just drilled into us what this manager has built at this club and the togetherness of the lads – you don’t get that performance without the lads being all together.

“The way the manager has everything under control, the way everyone works towards everything he wants is not like anything I’ve ever seen before, so credit to us for what we have been doing for the last few years.

“It’s a massive thing to deliver again this year and keep pushing. We’ve set those demands on ourselves and it’s up to us to keep delivering that and this adds towards that.

“I’ve learned in this league November means nothing. You just have to win as much as you can and in February or March, if you are there or thereabouts, you are in with a chance.

“Look at Liverpool. They have secretly gone under the radar, their attack is incredible, the defence is really good. Man City have started really strong, Chelsea are there or thereabouts so just keep winning and take each game as it comes and see where it takes us.”

Such was Arsenal’s organization and commitment they became the first team to prevent Liverpool having a shot on target in a Premier League match at Anfield since records began in 2003.

While the performance was not particularly pretty, it proved effective.

“What I’ve learned in this league is that every game is different, no game is plain sailing, it is always going to be tough,” Rice added.

“Looking back at that Forest game (a 1-0 win last month), it wasn’t the best performance but we ground it out and we won and there’s going to be more of that this season.

“But results like this just make it that extra bit special, so we are delighted.”