Arsenal win at Anfield, Carrick under pressure: Sunday recap

Kwame Asante: Good evening, and welcome to Golden Era. Sunday, 1 November (New York time): twenty-six stories. Let us take the score, starting at Anfield.

Shiv Kearney: Liverpool v Arsenal was decided in the 16th minute. Alisson made an error playing out from the back and Kai Havertz punished it. Arsenal won 1-0.

Rico Valente: And it was their first win at Anfield since September 2012. Fourteen years is a long time to wait for a ticket.

Shiv Kearney: Liverpool had 17 shots. Sky Sports reports none forced a save from David Raya. Volume without threat.

Kwame Asante: There was a 21st-minute penalty claim too. The Daily Mirror reports Jurrien Timber pulled Alexander Isak's shirt, and Andy Madley and VAR waved it away. Daniel Sturridge and Gary Neville said Isak did not make enough of it. Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright called it an obvious foul. The pundits cannot agree, so no one should expect the referees to.

Rico Valente: Saturday had its own drama. Brighton won 1-0 at the Etihad, their first Premier League win there, with 37.6% possession.

Shiv Kearney: City had 67 touches in the Brighton box, as that match report sets out. A lot of touches, no goal. Aston Villa beat City 2-1 a week earlier with 36.2% possession, and became the first side to win three league games in a row against City since Liverpool in December 2016. Our explainer on the low block is the cheat sheet. Less of the ball is not a weakness if you defend the right square metres.

Kwame Asante: Possession is a currency that does not always pay out. The table has a case study. Forest have the division's biggest shortfall against Understat's expected points. The table is not offering them much sympathy.

Shiv Kearney: Six points from nine games. Understat's xPTS gives them 16.6. A gap of 10.6.

Kwame Asante: Then they lost 2-0 at Brentford and were booed off by their own supporters. Liam Delap arrived from Chelsea for £50m, according to the Guardian. He has scored once and was substituted after 65 minutes without a shot on target. Forest have the underlying numbers. They do not have the points, and supporters pay for points.

Rico Valente: Chelsea against Manchester United gave us plenty to talk about. Chelsea won 2-0. Morgan Rogers scored in the 50th minute, Lisandro Martinez was sent off in the 63rd, and Cole Palmer converted the penalty in the 64th.

Shiv Kearney: BBC Sport puts the two fouls 83 seconds apart. The Independent says two minutes. Either way, a very short collapse. It was also Palmer's 50th Premier League goal for Chelsea, in his 105th appearance, per Opta in the Guardian.

Rico Valente: Mike Penders kept the clean sheet, facing 12 shots while deputising for the injured Emiliano Martinez. One was a Bryan Mbeumo strike he tipped onto the crossbar.

Kwame Asante: Lisandro Martinez will miss United's home match against Aston Villa on 8 November, BBC Sport reports. Which brings us to the chair. United's winless run goes on and Michael Carrick is still in it. Sky Sports and the Independent call it their worst run since 1984. BBC Sport and the Guardian say 1988. Even the history of the failure is disputed.

Rico Valente: The timetable is disputed too. A Spanish report cited by Football365 predicts an immediate sacking. The Athletic, the Mirror and Sky Sports report Roma and Villa first, and Carrick himself expects to face Roma. Another report has him getting at least two more matches.

Kwame Asante: Bookies.com had Carrick and Pierre Sage joint 5/4 favourites on Friday in its sack race. At Palace, Sage took charge with no Premier League experience. He has seven points from eight league games and 19 goals conceded. Final scores from Saturday evening are not in our reporting, so I will not guess.

Rico Valente: On the successor, the reports point in different directions. Graeme Bailey and the Evening Standard name Eddie Howe as the leading candidate. BBC Sport reports that Jason Wilcox favours Howe and Christopher Vivell prefers Julian Nagelsmann. The compensation Newcastle can claim for Howe has halved from £6m to £3m, BBC Sport understands.

Kwame Asante: A smaller compensation bill and a divided recruitment room. Follow the money. It never takes a day off.

Rico Valente: And for the forward line, Caught Offside has United making an informal enquiry for Ivan Toney at Al-Ahli. They have dropped interest in Dominic Calvert-Lewin. A gossip-column enquiry, not a bid.

Shiv Kearney: Coventry are the efficiency story. They beat Sunderland 3-1 from 0.71 xG. Sunderland had 17 shots and 1.65 xG. Finishing beat volume again.

Rico Valente: Barcelona had no such problem. They beat Alavés 6-1, with two each for Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, and went top of La Liga on 30 points, two clear of Atlético Madrid.

Shiv Kearney: Raphinha has 15 league goals in 11 games. That equals César Rodríguez and Lionel Messi. Hansi Flick also reached 100 wins in 131 matches, a 76.33% win rate. Only Luis Enrique got there faster.

Kwame Asante: Harry Kane had a stranger night. He was presented with the Ballon d'Or at the Allianz Arena, then hit the crossbar with a penalty in Bayern's 2-2 draw with Dortmund. The case for the award is 73 goals across 2025-26 for Bayern and England.

Rico Valente: In Madrid, Trent Alexander-Arnold has started four of 13 games while Jose Mourinho leans on Fede Valverde at right-back. Real paid €10m to get him early from Liverpool, and his contract runs to 2031.

Kwame Asante: Two last numbers. Milan and Inter unveiled plans for the €1.2bn, 71,500-seat Generali Stadium, with construction planned from 2028 and opening projected for 2031-32. Generali has agreed to pay about €650m for naming rights through 2052, roughly £13.5m a year to each club. Ask who pays, and for once there is an answer.

Kwame Asante: And finally, City's unresolved sanction. The independent Premier League commission found Manchester City guilty of serious financial breaches over nine seasons and of three non-cooperation charges. City appealed on 1 October and maintain their innocence. The sanction is still an open question. Goodnight.

On the desk, not published

Stories we weighed that day and did not run, with the reason. Unconfirmed until someone confirms them.

• Chinese platform removes Real Madrid and Mbappé content. Reported by TelecomAsia, Marca, Sports Illustrated. Below the line for the day.
• Eddie Howe reportedly open to Manchester United job after approach. Reported by Daily Mirror. A sourced rumor that did not make the Fool's Gold slots.
• Iraola and Van Dijk criticise decision not to award Liverpool a penalty. Reported by Daily Mail football, The Independent football, BBC Sport football. Below the line for the day.
• Kai Havertz becomes the Premier League's top-scoring German player. Reported by ESPN, Goal.com, Tribuna.com. Below the line for the day.
• Drew Spence sets WSL all-time appearance record. Reported by BBC Sport football. Below the line for the day.
• Real Madrid go 2-0 up against Racing Santander. Reported by BBC Sport football, a Reddit post. Below the line for the day.
• Returning Estevão brings added threat to strikerless Chelsea. Reported by BBC Sport football, BBC Sport Premier League. Below the line for the day.
• Brighton's preparation and team spirit underpin win at Manchester City. Reported by Brighton & Hove Albion, The Athletic football, BBC Sport. Below the line for the day.

The desk read 1,081 items, evaluated 163 stories and published 26.