Arsenal Round-Up, Sunday 8th November: Odegaard Winner Sends Arsenal Six Clear as Russo Brace Sinks Liverpool
Arsenal remain firmly in control at the top of the Premier League after a gritty 1-0 win over Hull City at the Emirates, with captain Martin Odegaard tucking home the only goal of the game (Arsenal.com). It wasn't pretty, but Football.London's Debrief called it an "ugly and gritty" victory that did the job (Football.London), and Arsenal.com had Mikel Arteta giving his thoughts on the homecoming win ahead of the international break (Arsenal.com). The result was shown on Match of the Day alongside the day's other action (BBC Sport).
The win proved doubly important as Manchester City slipped up again, meaning Arsenal have now opened up a six-point gap at the summit (Evening Standard) (Football.London). Enzo Maresca has been explaining how City plan to try to reel Arsenal back in (Football.London), while pundit opinion is split on who poses the biggest threat - some reports point to City still being the main rivals (Football.London), others suggest Brighton, who have moved up to second, could be the fresher challengers (Sky Sports) (BBC Sport), and Harry Redknapp has also flagged Brighton as more likely to push Arsenal than City (Sky Sports).
There was late controversy at the Emirates too, with former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann saying Arsenal should have had a penalty for a foul on Kai Havertz against Hull (BBC Sport). The Evening Standard reported that Arteta has since been given some clarity on the offside law that applied to the incident (Evening Standard), while another report described Arsenal being sent a "clear penalty verdict" after VAR controversy left Arteta demanding answers (Football.London). Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes, meanwhile, praised "unbelievable" Arsenal for keeping up their title pace (ESPN), and separately revealed what was said in his own dressing room to help his side recover from a recent setback (Football.London). Arteta has also been open about what he told one Arsenal player he wants to see more of in the dressing room following the Hull win (Football.London).
On the women's side, Arsenal picked up a big win of their own, coming from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield in the Women's Super League thanks to a brace from Alessia Russo (Arsenal.com) (Sky Sports) (BBC Sport). Renee Slegers made three changes to her starting line-up for the trip to Merseyside (Arsenal.com) and was in high spirits afterwards, saying her side had to show real character to hold on for the points (Arsenal.com). Emily Fox, who set up Russo's opener, said simply that "if you give the ball to Less, she's going to score" (Arsenal.com). Sky Sports' WSL round-up also noted Manchester United snatching a late win over Aston Villa elsewhere in the division (Sky Sports).
Arsenal's academy sides were busy too. The U18s thrashed Sunderland 3-0 (Arsenal.com), while the U21s beat Aston Villa 5-2 in Premier League 2, with William Saliba starting as he continues his return from injury and head coach Mark Horseman praising him as a "top pro" (Arsenal.com).
Away from results, Football.London reported Arsenal face an "instant" transfer issue over a reported £58m interest in RB Leipzig's Antonio Nusa, with January plans said to be taking shape (Football.London). And in lighter news, former Tottenham favourite Dele Alli apologised to Spurs fans after posting a picture of himself in an Arsenal shirt before burning it (talkSPORT).
This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
