Premier League title odds: Liverpool odds-on title favourites after beating Arsenal

Man City’s mauling by Leicester coupled with an impressive performance against Arsenal saw Jurgen Klopp’s champions move ahead of Pep Guardiola’s side in the betting as they went into 5/6 favourites to win the league.

And you have to say that on first impressions they're worthy favourites - and could well walk away with it once again.

Liverpool scampered eight points clear of Man City after eight games last season and never looked back, they’re already six points ahead of their big title rivals after just three games – albeit with City only having played twice.

The contrasting fortunes over the third weekend of the season could hardly be more stark, with Guardiola enduring a nightmare 5-2 defeat while Klopp saw his side play with energy, desire and quality. They bossed a well-drilled and talented Arsenal side from start to finish, dominating possession and having 21 shots to Arsenal’s four.

Liverpool’s start to the season has been tricky, but they’ve come through three decent tests so far while their would-be challengers have already struggled, and that’s a big part of why it already looks ominous for the rest of the league.

Three of last year's top four have already dropped 11 points between them, the champions have nine out of nine - could the writing be on the wall already?

Reds showing strength in depth

Liverpool have been getting criticism all summer for not bringing in the signings many thought they needed – passing up the chance to sign Timo Werner may yet prove to be a big mistake but as yet they’re doing just fine without him.

The late addition of Thiago was rightly applauded, while the signing of Diogo Jota raised eyebrows, but his goal on his debut in a late cameo that could have yielded a couple of goals showed that he could be the perfect fit for this system.

Premier League title odds

• 5/6 - Liverpool
• 6/4 - Man City
• 20/1 - Chelsea
• 33/1 - Man Utd | Arsenal
• 40/1 - Leicester

Click here for the full market

Klopp’s made some great signings and perhaps his biggest strength is that he only signs players he really wants, and is prepared to walk away from deals he feels are not right while also being prepared to wait to get his man.

Thiago didn’t even play on Monday but he also looks like a great signing with him being able to offer something different. The fact though that Thiago, along with Jordan Henderson and Joel Matip were all missing shows Liverpool’s strength.

Takumi Minamino, Xherdan Shaqiri and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are further options, while youngster Curtis Jones looks a star in the making. From at one point being described as in danger of ‘being left behind’ as Chelsea spent big and other sides strengthened, Liverpool now look well-stocked.

Challengers already struggling

Liverpool beat Chelsea, who then drew at West Brom, Man Utd have been poor and Arsenal and Tottenham may improve but still look miles off. Everton and Leicester have started well but are not likely to be able to sustain a genuine challenge, so it leaves the other part of this two-horse race in Man City as their closest threats.

City, though, have big injury problems and looked a mess at the back against the Foxes, a mess that even new signing Ruben Dias won’t be able to fix straight away as he settles into the Premier League.

Guardiola’s side face a lively Leeds next up in the league, and after their display at Anfield playing City will hold no fear for Marcelo Bielsa's boys, and with Liverpool fancied to beat Aston Villa, anything other than three points for City will suddenly already see a sizeable gap opened up.

Everything’s dropping Liverpool’s way in the very early stages of the season, and after last season we cannot just write it off as unimportant early-season settling. This Liverpool side know how important it is to start strong and keep grinding out result after result.

There seems no sign of complacency, no hint that they’re happy to sit on their title success of last season – they’re fit, they’re firing and they look hungry both in and out of possession.

It’s also hugely important to note that Liverpool are great front-runners, they won’t need a second invitation to grab a lead in the title race, and after last year once they get in front then it could be impossible to reel them back in.

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