Arsenal moved up to second in the Premier League and within six points of Liverpool after a largely untroubled, if somewhat pedestrian, 1-0 home win over struggling Ipswich Town on a chilly night in north London on Friday.

A first-half goal from Kai Havertz, who latched on to Leandro Trossard's clever back-heel, proved the winner, although the hosts should have added to their tally as the Gunners' performance lacked much in the way of pre-New Year fireworks.

Lacking the creativity of Bukayo Saka, who will be sidelined until March after undergoing surgery on a hamstring injury, it took 19 minutes for Arsenal to register their first shot on target, although Havertz scored his sixth goal of the season in all competitions four minutes later when he tapped in Trossard's whipped cross.

Ipswich had a spell of pressure 10 minutes into the second half but it proved fleeting and Arsenal should have wrapped up the game comfortably.

Defender Gabriel Magalhães wasted a golden opportunity to extend his goalscoring streak from corner kicks, heading wide when he was unmarked. Captain Martin Odegaard then fired over after dancing into the area from midfield.

The win moved Arsenal 36 points clear of Liverpool, who have 42 with a game in hand, and saw the Gunners leapfrog London rivals Chelsea, who have 35 points, and one of the surprise packages of the season, Nottingham Forest, who are fourth on 34.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told reporters he was "very happy with the victory, with the clean sheet and with large parts of the game. We should have scored more but it is the consistency, the team conceded nothing again.

"Considering all the circumstances we had this season, the amount of times we had to play with 10 men, all the injuries that we had, it's good to be in the position that we are but it's not where we want to be. We want to be first."

The Gunners next visit Brentford on New Year's Day and Brighton & Hove Albion on January 4 before playing two domestic cup games and hosting local rivals Tottenham Hotspur on January 15.

Friday's match started slowly with Arsenal holding the ball with ease, albeit mostly in non-threatening areas, until Trossard broke to the byline on 23 minutes and crossed for Havertz to tap in.

Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus thought he had added to his recent goalscoring form when he fired the ball through the legs of Ipswich goalkeeper Arijanet Muric from an unbelievably tight angle, but he was ruled out for offside.

The home side continued to create chances in the final 20 minutes, with Odegaard, Havertz and Trossard all going close, but Arsenal will need to be more clinical in their finishing if they are to maintain their challenge for Liverpool.

Ipswich remain second from bottom with 12 points from 18 games, three clear of the safety zone, before hosting Chelsea on Monday.

"The players worked really hard and we got the game to a good place in the second half after a good 20 minutes," Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna told the BBC.

"Early on we were pinned in and couldn't get out but to be where we were after 89 minutes I was really pleased ... Some defending was good and we'll need that on Monday against Chelsea."