Liverpool have barely stumbled in the Premier League this season, with just one league defeat to their name so far this term.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have lost three times and drawn eight times, picking up just one point from their last two games.
Although it’s not mathematically certain, few are expecting Liverpool to stumble badly enough to let the Gunners get too close at this point.
Now, Gary Lineker has shared his theory as to why Arne Slot’s charges are so far ahead of Mikel Arteta’s side at this point of the season.
Liverpool said to have had better luck with injuries than Arsenal and Manchester City
Lineker and Alan Shearer spoke on The Rest Is Football about how well Liverpool have done not only on the pitch, but on the personnel front too.
The Reds haven’t had too many key absences to speak of this season, while Arsenal and Manchester City have suffered much more from key players being out.
And Lineker believes Liverpool’s milder injury situation so far this season is probably the main reason why the Reds are running away with the title as things stand.
Shearer said: “You’ve got to give great credit to the physios, doctors, sport science, whatever they’ve done at Liverpool this year.
“They’ve played every competition – I know the FA Cup, they got knocked out a couple of weeks ago to Plymouth – but up until then they’ve played every single week, Champions League, and have not really had big injuries, have they? Not to their big players.”
Lineker then said: “I think that’s probably why the margin at the top of the table is so big.
“Because all those around – obviously Manchester City have had their injuries and obviously dipping form as well clearly.
“Arsenal now lost their front three or four and they’ve been debilitated, and so there’s not really been a likely challenger.
“And that’s why they’ve run away with it – but, I mean, they’ve been incredibly impressive, brilliant.”
Key absences in Liverpool ranks this season
It’s not as though Liverpool have been completely injury free this season. They’ve had a fair few key players out for multiple Premier League games.
For instance, first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker missed eight games through injury earlier this season, while Ibrahima Konate missed six and Diogo Jota missed eight.
However, Liverpool’s strength in depth has been particularly impressive, with Caoimhin Kelleher covering superbly for Alisson, for instance.
That said, there’s no doubt the likes of Arsenal have been especially unlucky, and they’ll likely bear this in mind in the summer when the transfer window opens.
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