Owen Hargreaves believes Arsenal need to sign three players with significant experience in order to beat Liverpool to the Premier League title.
Arne Slot’s side are now seven points clear of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League after they came from behind to beat Leicester City 3-1 at Anfield on Boxing Day.
Earlier on Thursday, Chelsea took the lead against Fulham at Stamford Bridge but a second-half collapse saw Fulham secure a 2-1 win.
Arsenal, meanwhile, will overtake Chelsea and move to six points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool if they beat Ipswich Town on Friday evening.
However, Hargreaves believes both Arsenal and Chelsea lack the experience required to overtake Liverpool this season.
‘It was interesting when he [Andy Robertson] said the manager [Arne Slot] tweaks our tactics every game, people label a manager and say you have to have a style of play, Liverpool play different almost every game, depending on what they need,’ Hargreaves told Premier League Productions after Liverpool’s win against Leicester.
‘I like that about this Liverpool team, they are very versatile, very flexible, and I think they can do pretty much anything that the game dictates.
‘But the biggest thing for me is the reason Arsenal and Chelsea won’t win it, they don’t have any experience like Liverpool.
‘Alisson, [Virgil] Van Dijk, Trent [Alexander-Arnold], Robertson, [Mohamed] Salah, you’ve got five guys who have been there and done it for years.
‘Arsenal, I’m amazed they haven’t addressed that, they’re this close but they need three or four of those guys in their team. If they get them they’ll win the league, I really believe that.
‘Mo [Michael Owen] is right, Chelsea are too young but maybe in two years’ time they’ll be there.
‘But this Liverpool team is perfectly set up. They’ve got a real mix of young players, a brilliant front three, but because they can play different every game they’re going to be hard to stop.’
Meanwhile, Michael Owen believes Arsenal remain Liverpool’s only credible title challengers after Chelsea’s defeat to Fulham, while Manchester City are now 14 points behind Liverpool after they were held at home by Everton on Boxing Day.
‘They’re [Liverpool] absolutely loving it aren’t they, you can only imagine that dressing room,’ Owen said.
‘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.
‘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.
‘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.’
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