Liverpool and Chelsea legends give surprise take on Arsenal’s title chances

Frank Lampard and Michael Owen are both upbeat on Arsenal’s Premier League title chances, despite falling nine points behind leaders Liverpool.

The Gunners drew 1-1 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with Gabriel Martinelli opening the scoring and Pedro Neto rescuing a point for the home side.

While a draw at Chelsea is certainly no disgrace, it was the sixth time Arsenal have dropped points in 11 Premier League outings and leaves them significantly off the pace in fourth.

Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa, with Manchester City losing to Brighton, puts Arne Slot’s side five points clear at the top of the table, boasting a goal difference of +15, with nearest rivals City on +9.

No team has recovered a nine-point deficit to win the Premier League from this stage of the season, with the record being eight, but Owen feels Arsenal could be the team to do it.

The Liverpool hero was impressed with what he saw in the draw at Chelsea, but with the likes of Martin Odegaard returning from injury, he feels they will start putting together a winning run after the international break.

‘It’s nine points but it was a big step forward today that was a good performance today,’ Owen told Premier League Productions on Sunday. ‘It feels like they were back in business today, that was Arsenal again today, in recent weeks it’s not really looked like Arsenal. The creativity has not been there.

‘It’s nine points, yes, but it feels like their big players are coming back, confidence is coming back. It looks to me like they’re going to start picking up points very soon.’

Chelsea legend Lampard was in agreement, who not only thinks Arsenal will improve but Liverpool will hit their own sticky patch at some stage.

‘After a tough run I don’t think we should forget who they are and what they’ve built,’ said Lampard of Arsenal. ‘Good team, they’ve got a very good coach, a physical team, a strong team.

‘Maybe there’s some points, the number 9 we talk about that typically teams need to win the league, an absolute number 9, they don’t have that option so much.

‘But other than that, it’s nine points to Liverpool, who have not that moment, that blip. That could be at some stage for them, so they certainly shouldn’t give up that hope.’

Arsenal icon Ian Wright reckons it has been a question of injuries and suspensions so far this campaign and if Mikel Arteta can field the same team as he did on Sunday then success will come.

‘You have to have that hope, but it probably kills you, the hope,’ he said.

‘The team was pretty strong. If we can put that team out that you have to be confident that they’re going to be able to pull it back and win some games.’

Former Arsenal star Theo Walcott feels their hopes of glory are very much still alive, pointing out that their run of fixtures has been tough and the return of Odegaard from a serious ankle injury is huge news.

‘The difference with Arsenal at this moment in time is that they are lacking in goals, while they are not conceding many – but at this point of the season it’s important to factor in who they have played,’ Walcott told Match of the Day 2.

‘I would say that, so far, they have played tougher teams – they have played six of last season’s top 10, and five of those games have been away from home.

‘Plus, most of the time they have been without their main player, Martin Odegaard, and they are still where they are.

‘People tend to forget all of that when they look into how Arsenal are not playing at the same level they were at last year, but for me it is one of the reasons not to write them off in the title race.’