Liverpool’s march towards the Premier League title now seems inevitable – after they increased their lead at the top of the table to 13 points.
“It’s going to be less of a title race and more of a procession isn’t it?” said Match of the Day host Gary Lineker.
The Reds have only lost once in the league all season – beating Newcastle 2-0 on Wednesday.
Second-placed Arsenal have dropped points in each of their last two games – including their goalless draw against Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot said: “There is still a long way to go, 10 games. In March, we only play one Premier League game – so we are not long-term focused.
“Now the players have a few days off, and then we focus on Paris St-Germain [in the Champions League] more than we do on the table in the Premier League.”
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta needs to know the jig is up, but said before the Forest game that he would concede the title “over [his] dead body”.
After the game, he told the BBC: “It was the same a week ago, two weeks ago, three months ago. The only thing we can do is win our games and see how many points we get.”
Former Liverpool winger Steve McManaman, meanwhile, said Liverpool are “unstoppable” and “in cruise control”.
“Everyone else falls away and helps them,” he added.
Forest are in third place, six points behind Arsenal, and Manchester City – who have won the last four titles – are another point behind.
Only one team has ever been 13 points ahead in the Premier League and not won the title – with Arsenal beating Manchester United to the title in 1997-98 – but that was earlier in the season.
What dates can the Reds declare Premier League gold? – It’s a question of when and not if.
Statisticians Opta say Liverpool are 98.7% likely to win the title (with Arsenal at 1.3%).
Liverpool are 13 points ahead of Arsenal with 10 games left – although the Gunners have 11 games left.
If the Reds maintain a 13-point lead, it will give them the title with four games to spare – April 26 against Tottenham.
However, if the Gunners win the game in hand – and match the other results, Liverpool will seal the title the following weekend against Chelsea.
If that happened, their first game as champions would be a home game against Arsenal, which could end up giving them a guard of honour on the pitch.
Due to their progress in the Champions League, place in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle and an international break, Liverpool only play one Premier League game in March.
The earliest Liverpool could win the title mathematically would be in the first week of April.
If the Reds won their next three games and Arsenal lost their next four games (with teams below them also losing some points), it would be over April 5.
Liverpool are in a position from which no team has ever been able to win the English title
Liverpool’s latest Premier League matches can be seen here: Live.sporten.com
Can Liverpool break any records?
Liverpool would need everything to go their way to equalle their own record of winning the title with seven games remaining in 2019-20.
Equalizing the five games left by Manchester United (2000-01) and Manchester City (2017-18) is more achievable.
United (1999-2000 and 2012-13) and Arsenal (2003-04) did so with four games to spare.
The earliest date a title has been won was April 14, 2001, when United were crowned champions.
For Liverpool to break that record, they need to significantly increase their lead over Arsenal.
The Reds know that if they win it, it will be earlier in the year than their only other Premier League title – which came on June 25, 2020 in the Covid-interrupted season.
Arne Slot’s club needs to increase their lead at the top by seven points to record the largest margin of victory in a Premier League season.
Manchester City finished 19 points ahead of Manchester United in 2017-18 when they won the Premier League title with a record 100 points.
The Reds can get a maximum of 97 points. – Manchester City won last season with 91 points.
