Liverpool have a psychological advantage in the title race and can truly stake their claim as favourites by capitalising on their rivals' weaknesses over the coming weeks in the Premier League, Reds expert David Lynch has argued.
Following Manchester City's devastating 4-0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, Arne Slot's Merseysiders have the chance to extend their lead over the champions to eight points when they face Southampton at St Mary's stadium on Sunday.
Victory would also see the Reds go nine points ahead of Arsenal, who beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Liverpool are set to host Pep Guardiola's side at Anfield on December 1, and Lynch believes that Slot's team have the opportunity to put significant pressure on their rivals, telling Sports Mole: "[Liverpool will] be thinking that they can extend the lead because City and Arsenal are wobbling.
"If you can just keep your noses in front at all times, it gives you that extra confidence and it also puts the scoreboard pressure on your title rivals.
"It starts to come to the point where Liverpool can relax. [They've] got this gap, [they're] not playing under massive pressure. [They] can play [their] football and be open and take risks at times, whereas Manchester City and Arsenal, if [they] drop points again, [they're] done, [they're] out of it. There's a psychological element that will play on the other title rivals."
Liverpool's position assessed
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Interestingly, despite boasting a remarkable 28 points from a possible 33, Liverpool collected the same number of points from the corresponding fixtures in 2023-24.
The Reds have scored 19 goals and conceded on six occasions under Slot in their games against the teams Jurgen Klopp's side faced last season, and though they have conceded four goals fewer, they have also scored seven fewer as well.
While some might point to those statistics and suggest that Liverpool could yet slip up in the title race this term, it is important to note that the Reds are performing considerably better in several other underlying metrics.
For instance, Liverpool faced 1.2 xG per 90 in 2023-24 but have only faced 0.85 per 90 this campaign, and this figure is the best in the entire division.
Lynch expressed his belief to Sports Mole that fans should not necessarily be surprised by the position that the Reds find themselves in, saying: "Liverpool were very good last season. People forget they were top of the table after 30 games.
"I think because of the way it panned out in the end people forget they were involved in the title race. It almost gets talked about as if it was just Arsenal and Manchester City.
"[Liverpool] were doing a bit of a high wire act at times [in 2023-24]: 'we'll score four, you score three' approach to games, and that was quite tiring for them. So being on par with last season is no bad thing."
Liverpool clear favourites?
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Should Liverpool defeat Southampton and win against City at Anfield in the following matchweek, then they would be 11 points clear of Guardiola's side after just 13 games.
The Merseysiders are the only team to have won a league title other than the Citizens in the past seven seasons, ending the 2019-20 campaign on 99 points, 18 ahead of City.
Every time Guardiola's side have participated in a competitive title race, his team have come out on top, and perhaps Slot's best chance of overcoming his Spanish counterpart would be to build an unassailable lead.
Arsenal could yet re-enter the race, especially given they have already played several of the league's best away from home, but it would likely take a near-perfect season from now on for the Gunners to finish first.
Lynch highlighted his belief that should Liverpool avoid dropping points against opponents that they would normally be expected to beat, then winning the Premier League is a distinct possibility considering the early advantage the Reds have over their rivals.
When speaking about the position the club find themselves in, Lynch told Sports Mole: "[Liverpool] have got to avoid [dropping points] towards the end [of the season].
"It's a Liverpool side that's going to pick up an awful lot of points, and again, the upside is that you see a Manchester City and Arsenal that are unable to match what they did last season.
"If that theme continues throughout the season, then Liverpool will, I'm not going to say run away with it, but they'll be right up there and should probably win it."
Sports Mole editor Barney Corkhill spoke with Liverpool expert David Lynch to discuss Liverpool's next set of fixtures, and the advantages that they hold over Manchester City and Arsenal.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
Lewis Nolan
