Arsenal may benefit from being the "hunters" rather than the "hunted" as they try to overhaul Liverpool in the race for Premier League glory, according to Gunners expert Charles Watts.
Still searching for their first Premier League title since the 2003-04 Invincibles, Arsenal will have to mount one of the competition's all-time great comebacks if they are to deny Arne Slot's side a slice of stardom.
Mikel Arteta's men are already nine points adrift of Liverpool in the top-flight table after 13 rounds of fixtures, while only being above Chelsea on alphabetical order and holding just a two-point buffer over stuttering champions Manchester City.
However, given Arsenal were leading the pack at this point in 2022-23 and 2023-24 but went on to finish in second place in both years, Watts has suggested that Arteta's side may benefit from having a deficit to make up rather than a lead to protect.
"There will be a belief in that Arsenal team that they can do it. There is such a long way to go," Watts told Sports Mole. "It is a massive gap, but it is such a long way to go still. Anything can happen. You've seen what's happened with Manchester City - who would have predicted Man City would go on this run? If Man City can lose these games in a row, then anyone can. As good as Liverpool are doing now, you just never know what can happen in the future.
"As I've said many times, you've just got to position yourselves to be able to take advantage of any potential slip-up, and there's such a long way to go that that slip-up can happen. Liverpool have got an awful lot of tricky away games to come this season. Arsenal have got, on paper, the hardest ones out of the way this season. They've got everything to come at home.
"It's not done and dusted yet, and Mikel will be pointing to that very fact and he'll bring that into his players. And last season, we were in February time and it was looking like make or break for Arsenal and they did it. They got themselves on a run. They overhauled Liverpool, really should have gone on and won the league. They put themselves in a position to and didn't get it done again.
"Maybe they'd be better being the hunters this season rather than the hunted. The last two seasons they've been the hunted. Now they've got someone that they can set their sights on and try and haul back and maybe that might work to their advantage this season. We'll see."
What history tells us about Arsenal's Premier League title chances
Both Arsenal and Liverpool have historical omens on their side in the Premier League title fight, as the Reds are just the third team with at least a nine-point lead after 13 games, and the previous two - 2005-06 Chelsea and 1993-94 Manchester United - both finished the season in first place.
However, Arsenal hold the record for the biggest points deficit overturned at any stage in the season to win the title, having been 13 points adrift of Man United in December 1997, and no team in first place after 13 games has ended up as champions since Liverpool themselves in 2019-20.
"I'm not sure any Arsenal players were alive at that point in that squad!" Watts joked, reflecting on the 1997-98 fightback. "I certainly was. I remember it very, very well. It was very famous, wasn't it? The bookmakers paid out on United at that point in about March and then Arsenal won 10 games in a row, went to Old Trafford and won and hauled them back and won the double that season. So anything's possible.
"I've seen a lot of Arsenal fans pointing to that season in the last couple of weeks who were there to witness it. You can get on a run, teams can slip up and then the weight of pressure can affect them massively. You look at Liverpool now, they're on 34 points. Arsenal were on 34 points two seasons ago after that unbelievable start they had. They didn't win the league, City hauled them back and obviously the gap wasn't nine points, I think it was five but City hauled them back and won the title. It's not done and dusted yet."
However, Watts has conceded that Slot's juggernaut - who eased to a 2-0 win over Manchester City at the weekend - do not look likely to falter any time soon, meaning that Arsenal can only focus on themselves and hope that one of the Reds' future foes can do them a favour.
"I'm definitely looking at Liverpool now," he added. "They were brilliant against Manchester City. I have to admit, I gave City zero chance of winning that game. The only thing was that it was Manchester City so you couldn't discount it totally that they'd do something pretty special but you just looked at the way Liverpool were playing and you looked at how City were playing, what their issues have been. It just looked tailor-made for a dominant Liverpool win and it was. They were brilliant.
"I'm certainly looking at that gap to Liverpool now. It is a very, very big gap. Liverpool don't look like slowing up anytime soon. They're on an absolute roll. It's kind of similar to what I said last year - you've just got to carry on winning if you're Arsenal. Just keep doing what you're doing and see where it takes you.
'Arsenal might have to doff their cap to Liverpool'
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"If Liverpool don't slip up, you've got to sort of doff your cap and they're on 100-point pace at the moment. If someone goes and wins the title with 100 points, you've just got to stand back and applaud at the end of the day because it doesn't happen very often. It's only happened once. If Liverpool go on and do that, then it's been an unbelievable achievement from them and there's not really much else you can do about it."
Arsenal also have to worry about Chelsea unexpectedly creeping up the rear, but even though Blues boss Enzo Maresca and star player Cole Palmer have both played down their side's chances of winning the league, Watts assesses them as genuine contenders.
"I know Enzo Maresca is sitting there and saying 'we're not in the title race' but I don't see why they shouldn't be," Watts said. "I still think I would be surprised if they do maintain it. We'll wait and see what they do in January. I look at their defence, I look at the goalkeeper and I'm not sure over the course of the season that's strong enough.
"But you look at the talent they've got in that team, in midfield and in attack. Chelsea, if they can get themselves on a run, which they seem to be at the moment, then they might give themselves a chance, which would be great for them. From an Arsenal point of view, I think you're very much looking at Liverpool and just hoping someone can do you a favour at some point soon and just stem that momentum that they've built up now."
After going into the November international break on a disheartening four-game winless run in the Premier League, Arsenal have been rejuvenated since the two-week hiatus, winning each of their last three games against Nottingham Forest, Sporting Lisbon and West Ham United by at least three goals.
A blockbuster battle with Manchester United on Wednesday - where Watts fears one specific Arsenal weakness could get exposed - precedes a trip to London rivals Fulham on Sunday, as the Gunners aim to right the wrongs of a 2-1 loss at Craven Cottage last season.
Arsenal must rectify "worst performance" of last season in crunch December clash
© IconSport
Having subsequently lost the title to Manchester City by just two points, that reverse in West London ended up proving fatal, and Watts has implored Arsenal to make amends for their "worst performance" of the 2023-24 campaign at the weekend.
"With the gap as it is, every single week is a huge week and it's make or break because Arsenal just can't afford to slip up now," Watts said. "They just cannot afford to because Liverpool don't like doing it. Every week feels so crucial, and that's a mad thing to say when it's still just early December, but that's what Liverpool's run of form has made it now. It is a big week, two really big games. Man United at home, but then Fulham away, which was Arsenal's worst performance of the season last season.
"They were abysmal at Fulham, got beaten 2-1, could have been more and they were just awful. And that was January 1 and you felt the season was over.That's one thing to hold on to as well. I remember they played Liverpool in February last season at the Emirates. They beat them, and if they'd have lost, they'd have gone eight points behind.
"But so they went into it five points adrift and that was in February. So it's not that much of a difference to now. We've still got a couple of months before that. So it can be done. You can claw it back. But you've just got to win every single game."
While Arsenal prepare for battle against Man United and Fulham, Liverpool visit Newcastle on Wednesday before a tantalising Merseyside derby with Everton at the weekend, although Watts is not holding out hope of Sean Dyche's side springing a surprise in that fixture.
"I look at the Liverpool games coming up and they are tricky, but Everton defensively against Man United were an absolute shambles at the weekend," Watts said. "I know they won at Goodison last year in the derby, but, and this is going to be potentially the last derby at Goodison Park.
"So they're going to be very up for it. I just can't see Liverpool slipping up there, though, this season. I really, really can't. Things to be, seem to be falling in Liverpool's favour in that regards in some really tricky games. Arsenal have just got to hope that someone can do them a favour at the moment and just do their own job. It's all you can do. Do your own job. Win these games and see where you are come Christmas."
Arteta has suggested that Arsenal could receive a couple of injury boosts for Wednesday's visit of Man United, where the Gunners would also set a new club record with victory over Ruben Amorim's team.
Ben Knapton
