“I’m convinced” – Liverpool given Arsenal warning as expert makes title race prediction | OneFootball

Arsenal FC expert Charles Watts has made it clear he’s convinced the Gunners can still run Liverpool very close in this season’s Premier League title race.

The Gunners beat Nottingham Forest at the weekend to bounce back after some poor recent form, while Manchester City seem to be slipping away after a surprise run of five defeats in a row in all competitions.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, Watts had his say on Arsenal’s hopes for the season, making it clear he felt it was not a done deal yet for league leaders Liverpool.

“With about 25 minutes to go at Southampton on Sunday, it was looking like turning into a near perfect weekend for Arsenal in the Premier League,” Watts said.

“Mikel Arteta’s side produced their best performance of the season so far on Saturday as they brushed Nottingham Forest aside 3-0 and then they sat back and watched Manchester City get taken apart by a clinical Spurs at the Etihad.

Arne Slot and Mikel Arteta (Photo by Maja Hitij/Julian Finney/Getty Images)

“Southampton’s fightback against Liverpool at St Mary’s, which saw them leading 2-1 after falling behind early on, looked like putting the gloss on what had been an excellent 24 hours, but then that man Mo Salah performed his rescue act for Liverpool, albeit with a lot of help from the Saints keeper and defence.

“So things didn’t quite turn out as well as they could have done for Arsenal, with Liverpool maintaining their nine point advantage over them, but to be honest that was expected at the start of the weekend. Any dropped points from Liverpool on the south coast would have been a bonus.

Can Arsenal build on that win over Nottingham Forest?

“For Arsenal the key thing now is to just build on the result and performance against Forest, because it was very good. For the first time in a long time there was a real sense of balance in the team. They looked much more like the Arsenal side we have become accustomed to over the last couple of years and they need to build on that now.”

He added: “If Mikel Arteta can continue to have his big players available to him over the coming weeks then there is no reason why they can’t string a strong winning run together. There are six winnable games in the league between now and New Year’s Day, if Arsenal win all six then I’m convinced they will be within touching distance of Liverpool when they enter 2025 and then it will be all to play for.

“Liverpool are on a hell of a run, but it doesn’t feel like they are unbeatable. Things are going their way a bit and Sunday’s game at Southampton was a clear example of that.”

It’s certainly shaping up to be an interesting title race, but Arsenal fans will no doubt be fuming that their team has slipped up just as Manchester City have finally also hit a rough patch.

The north London giants finished just two points behind Pep Guardiola’s men as last season’s title race went right down to the final day of the season.