Premier League title race favourites: Why Liverpool's win against Bournemouth means more than Arsenal's Manchester City victory

Arne Slot's side emerged as 2-0 winners against the Cherries on Saturday and briefly extended their lead at the top of the table to nine points before Mikel Arteta's Londoners beat City 5-1 on Sunday, closing the gap to six points once again.

The emphatic nature of Arsenal's win against the Premier League champions worried some Reds supporters, with sections of the fanbase worried about the possibility of the Gunners embarking on a rich vein of form and clawing back the deficit on the league leaders.

However, Lynch believes that Liverpool fans should feel more optimistic than ever about their chances of winning the title as the Merseysiders' game against Bournemouth was arguably more difficult, telling Sports Mole: "I've sensed [worry] amongst the supporter base [with] people's confidence taking a knock after Arsenal's game, but for me, Liverpool had the toughest game of the two this weekend.

"To have to go to Bournemouth in the form that they've been in and where they are - their underlying numbers suggest they should actually be even higher up the table - that was the tougher game. Arsenal beat a City side who are struggling this season, [and] they're just not the same prospect that they were.

"[The win] felt significant. I thought Liverpool had the tougher game and their performance was so convincing that, as much as Arsenal will take a lot from that City win, they'll still [have] watched Liverpool that weekend and thought 'it's going to be a struggle to catch them.'"

Pep Guardiola's champions had lost six and drawn three of their 14 league games prior to their clash against Arsenal, whereas Bournemouth had lost just two of their 14 top-flight matches prior to their defeat against Liverpool.

Why Liverpool fans should feel confident of winning the title ahead of Arsenal

Though Liverpool's lead over Arsenal currently stands at six points, the Reds boast the advantage of having a game in hand and could move nine points ahead should they beat Everton on February 12.

Lynch emphasised the significance of the lead that Liverpool have when he told Sports Mole: "We sometimes don't conceive how big that gap is because it's six at the moment, and it could be nine, but even six is massive.

"As things stand at the moment in the table, if Liverpool lose the next three games and Arsenal win their next three, they're still only even, and then Arsenal have got to be better than Liverpool from that point on to go and lift the title - it's just such a massive ask.

"It's a massive ask for Liverpool to lose three games over the remainder of the season full stop and for Liverpool to then do that and Arsenal to be perfect alongside it, the odds of that are very long. It's a brilliant position that Liverpool are in."

If 90 points is seen as the benchmark to win the title, then Liverpool can afford to drop 11 points - the equivalent of five draws or three losses and one stalemate - while Arsenal can only drop two points.

Can anyone stop Liverpool from winning the Premier League title?

Liverpool did not reinforce in the January transfer market and that could mean that injuries to key squad members such as Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk would derail the Reds' title charge.

However, it should be remembered that Bukayo Saka, who is arguably the Gunners' best player, is likely to miss out on weeks of action as a result of the serious hamstring injury that he suffered in December.

Speaking to Sports Mole about Liverpool's rivals for the title, Lynch expressed his view that the Gunners do not have the capacity to capitalise on any of the Merseysiders' weaknesses, saying: "Watching [Arsenal's] game, Arsenal score five from around one expected goal, so in terms of what these two performances mean in the long term, the weekend gave me extra confidence that Liverpool will go on and win it.

"I have my concerns over Arsenal's goal scoring and the issues they've got, whereas you contrast it with Liverpool, who have no issues with goal scoring, no issues in keeping them out. Their defensive record's as good as Arsenal, which is supposed to be their main strength.

"[Liverpool are] a much more balanced side, and it's a side that's not suffering with any injuries at the moment. We've got a big, fit and healthy squad, and for me, the best squad in the Premier League - [there are] a lot of things in Liverpool's favour."

Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold are doubts for Liverpool's clash against Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup semi-final on Thursday, but they otherwise have a healthy squad, and they should be able to field strong XI's in most of their remaining 15 Premier League fixtures.

Written by

Lewis Nolan