Paul Merson drops seismic Liverpool claim instantly after Arsenal draw v Aston Villa: ‘I would be shocked’ | OneFootball

What a day of football for Liverpool Football Club and one of their closest rivals in the 2024/25 Premier League title race.

When all hope looked lost and the Reds appeared consigned to a third straight draw in the English top-flight in 2025, Darwin Nunez stepped up with a sensational two-minute brace to secure the points. The reaction in the stands was, as one might imagine, suitably chaotic.

Over at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal couldn’t return the serve, with Mikel Arteta’s men sacrificing a two-goal lead and, ultimately, the lion’s share of the points with a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa.

As the league table currently stands, Liverpool are sitting rather pretty at the summit with a nine-point gap over Nottingham Forest (21 games played) and a six-point gap over the Londoners (with a game in hand).

Have Arsenal blown the title race?

(Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Paul Merson was in an understandably dejected mood after watching his old club fall apart in North London.

The Sky Sports pundit claimed a ‘massive swing’ had taken place in the Merseysiders’ favour following Saturday’s results, a point Brentford boss Thomas Frank appeared to agree with.

“Liverpool scoring two goals in injury time – and Arsenal doing that, it’s a massive swing – I would be shocked if Liverpool didn’t win the league now,” the former Gunners midfielder spoke on Sky Sports.

In our view here at Empire of the Kop, it’s still far too early to call how this title race is going to pan out.

Certainly, if Liverpool go on to suffer another difficult run, as they have in January where only two wins were picked up out of five games (across all competitions), it’s all the encouragement our rivals will need.

With trips away to Manchester City and Everton (for the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park) coming up in February, the push for a 20th league title isn’t about to get any easier!

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