Michael Owen has given his verdict on the Premier League title race after Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Leicester on Boxing Day, with the Reds currently seven points clear at the top
Michael Owen has declared Arsenal as the “only danger” to Liverpool‘s quest for the Premier League crown.
The Reds are sitting pretty at the top of the table, seven points ahead with just a single loss this season under new manager Arne Slot. The Gunners are in fourth but have the chance to climb to second if they bag a win against Ipswich at the Emirates tonight.
This would bring them to just six points shy of Liverpool, who’d still have a game up their sleeve, and Owen reckons they’re the solitary threat to the Merseyside club. Despite acknowledging Arsenal‘s potential challenge, he suggests Liverpool are “streaking clear” and confesses he’d be “astonished” if they failed to clinch their 20th top flight title.
“They’re [Liverpool] absolutely loving it aren’t they, you can only imagine that dressing room,” the former Reds forward said on Premier League Productions, following Liverpool’s comeback 3-1 victory over Leicester on Boxing Day.
“People will say, they [Liverpool] will come out and say, ‘we don’t look at other teams, we just concentrate on ourselves’, and they’re right to do that and they are concentrating on themselves, they are motoring along really well,” reports the Mirror.
“But everyone around them is falling away at the same time, Chelsea lost today, Manchester City dropped points again, and they’re probably out of it now. When I look at the league table I’d be astonished if Liverpool don’t go on to win it now.”
Owen, who earned legendary status at Anfield before joining Manchester United and forever tarnishing his reputation among Liverpool supporters, added: “I think their only danger could be Arsenal. I don’t fancy Chelsea, I think they are too young, too inexperienced.
“Forest are having a great season but they can’t sustain that. Newcastle are too far behind, even though they are coming into good form at the moment, Bournemouth can’t challenge either.
“For me it’s Arsenal and Arsenal only in terms of danger to them [Liverpool]. But I think they’re only a danger to themselves, the way they are playing, unless they implode themselves, unless they have a Manchester City moment, it looks like they’re streaking clear.”
Despite Liverpool’s commanding lead, Slot has confessed it’s “far too early to be celebrating”. “It’s a bit of a boring answer but as a manager you go game by game – you know how many games you have to play,” the Dutchman maintained.
“So many teams have so much quality. The league table is something we are aware of but we also understand how many games there are still to play. Twenty one games from the end [of the season]… it’s far too early to already be celebrating.”