Michael Owen has hailed Arsenal as the ‘only danger’ to Liverpool’s Premier League title aspirations.
With Liverpool sitting comfortably seven points clear at the top, having tasted defeat just once this season under Arne Slot, Owen sees Arsenal, currently in fourth but with a chance to climb to second if they triumph over Ipswich tonight, as the sole credible threat to the Reds’ dominance.
Despite this, he acknowledges Liverpool are ‘streaking clear’ and expressed his shock would be immense if they failed to clinch the title.
Speaking to Premier League Productions following Liverpool‘s 3-1 comeback victory against Leicester on Boxing Day, Owen remarked: “They’re [Liverpool] absolutely loving it aren’t they, you can only imagine that dressing room. 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.”
He also noted the faltering of rivals, saying: “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 went on to play down several teams being potential threats to Liverpool‘s dominance. “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.”
Meanwhile, Slot has cautioned against premature celebrations despite Liverpool‘s commanding lead. He explained: “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.
“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.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk