No Liverpool player would be willing to admit it until it is mathematically impossible for Arsenal to catch up in the Premier League title race. But the Reds have been in the driving seat for the league title for some time.
Even before Liverpool beat Newcastle United and extended its advantage to 13 points, the Opta boffins rated Liverpool’s chances of winning the league at more than 97 percent. Arne Slot’s side has still lost just one game of significance this season and if it doesn’t get over the line from here, it will be the biggest collapse in history.
Deep down, Liverpool — just like The Kop was gleefully singing — must know it. In part, that is because the Reds are so consistent, and to a large degree, it is also because Arsenal looks incapable of stringing together a run of any kind. In its latest game, it drew 0-0 with Nottingham Forest.
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"[We showed] unquestionable character, how much wanted it and tried," Arteta told the BBC. "We dominated the game. We tried in many different ways. But we lacked that spark, that final pass to unlock a well-organized team. We have to generate more shots on target.
"It was a very different standard [to the West Ham defeat]. We defended with energy, purpose, fight, and a willingness to make things happen. It wasn’t because we lacked that. We tried until the end but weren’t able to do it."
These latest dropped points mean that Arsenal is still yet to win more than three matches in a row in the Premier League this season. To have any chance of catching Liverpool, it would need to beat that total, to put it mildly. In reality, it would have to almost quadruple it and win 11 on the spin — every remaining fixture, including at Anfield.
As Arteta essentially admitted, that simply isn’t going to happen with Mikel Merino up front and the Gunners’ forward line having been decimated by injuries. And even if it does by some miracle, Liverpool would likely still have enough thanks to the lead that it has already built.
"Same as before," Arteta said about his lack of attackers. "It’s what we have. We look forward to working with what we have." It is hardly a vote of confidence. "[The title picture] was the same a week ago, two weeks ago, three months ago," he admitted. "The only thing we can do is win our matches and see how many points we get. It doesn’t feel good [to drop more points]. We’re here to win."
By the time Liverpool moves into April — by which time it will only have played one more game in the Premier League than it has now due to an FA Cup weekend, the Carabao Cup final and the international break — it will start to feel even more real. For those inside Anfield singing "We’re gonna win the league" — and for Arteta too — it probably already does.
