London (AFP)

Liverpool continued their flawless and joined Leicester and Everton at the top of the table by inflicting their first defeat of the season (3-1) on Monday for Arsenal for the third day of the Premier League.

With 9 points out of 9 possible and +5 goal difference, the Reds are 2nd while the Gunners, with 6 units on the clock, are 5th, in a "gruppetto" with Aston Villa (4th), Crystal Palace (6th) and Leeds (7th).

Despite the loss, this game was yet another demonstration of the Gunners' phenomenal progress under Mikel Arteta, as you had to be very strong not to explode under the pressure put on by the defending champions from the opening minutes.

The Reds, with 70% possession in the first 45 minutes, 11 shots against 1, 13 balls touched in the opposing area against 2, and only 5 assists made in the last opposing third from the Londoners - their worst total on a period since 2006-, Arsenal did not exist offensively in the first act.

And yet, one of the two balls touched in the 16 meters of the Reds, and their only shot, ended in the bottom.

Andrew Robertson, surprised by the rebound from a center, involuntarily handed the ball to Alexandre Lacazette whose failed and crushed recovery rebounded just high enough that Alisson, on the ground, could only touch the ball (0-1 , 25th).

But the opening goal against the course of the game did not last long.

On a beautiful collective action, Mohamed Salah found himself in a shooting position and Bernd Leno could not do better than deviate in the feet of Sadio Mané who only had to push the ball to the bottom (1-1 , 28th).

Six minutes later, Robertson made up for his awkwardness on Arsenal's goal by catching a fleeing cross from his right-wing counterpart, Trent Alexander-Arnold, to chain control and small outside left and give the advantage to the Reds (2-1, 34th).

Diogo Jota's third goal at the very end of regulation time is quite anecdotal, except for the former Wolverhampton winger who was playing his first minutes in his new colors.

Like the victory at Chelsea (2-0) on the previous day, Liverpool showed that they still had a small margin on the competition, probably linked to the experience of the group built over the years.

The defeat will certainly not discourage Arsenal who did better than resist, especially in the second half where Lacazette had a huge opportunity to equalize in the 63rd, but found an excellent Alisson on his way.

The two clubs will meet again on Thursday for a round of 16 in the Coupe de la Ligue.

It remains to be seen which face the respective eleven will have, because Jürgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta will undoubtedly be tempted to run in a very dense season.

In the first meeting of the evening, Aston Villa won very easily for the promoted Fulham (4-0) who, with already 10 goals conceded in three days, will have a hard time leaving the red zone this season.

Full results of the 3rd day:

Saturday

Brighton - Manchester United 2 - 3

Crystal Palace - Everton 1 - 2

West Brom - Chelsea 3 - 3

Burnley - Southampton 0 - 1

Sunday

Sheffield United - Leeds United 0 - 1

Tottenham - Newcastle 1 - 1

Manchester City - Leicester 2 - 5

West Ham - Wolverhampton 4 - 0

Monday

Fulham - Aston Villa 0 - 3

Liverpool - Arsenal 3 - 1

© 2020 AFP