Michael Owen believes Liverpool are still ‘the best team in the Premier League’ and says Arsenal are not ‘even close’ to being as good as the Reds were last season.
Arne Slot’s men are currently sixth and 19 points behind Mikel Arteta’s pacesetters in what has been a weak defence of the title they won in the 2024-25 campaign.
But Owen, 46, who made nearly 300 appearances for the Anfield side between 1996 and 2004, still reckons the Reds are untouchable on their day.
‘Personally I think they’re the best team in the Premier League,’ the former Ballon d’Or winner said on BBC’s Wayne Rooney Show.
‘People will laugh like, “where are they, sixth in the league?” They trounced the league last season, they’re just not playing well.
‘But if you get the best performance out of every team in the Premier League and say, “right, go on. Your best against your best”. I think Liverpool are the best team.’
Michael Owen believes Liverpool remain ‘the best team in the Premier League’ on their day
The Reds won the league last season but are sixth in the table and 19 points behind Arsenal
Ex-England star Owen also said it has been ‘massively frustrating’ to see the Reds struggle this campaign, particularly after the additions of Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz to a title-winning squad.
‘It’s hard to believe that they’re worse now,’ he continued. ‘But I just think it’s a matter of time, maybe next season, before you see them at their very top again.’
He added: ‘Arsenal I think will go on to win the league. But you can’t tell me they’re as good as, or even close to Liverpool last season. I think Liverpool have got it in them – they’re just not doing it consistently.’
Owen is not the first high-profile name to suggest the Gunners do not play good football in recent weeks as the debate around their reliance on set-pieces intensifies.
Slot himself recently claimed the growing fixation on corners had made Premier League games ‘not a joy to watch’.
‘You have to accept it. I think it’s mainly here in the Premier League. If I watch other leagues, I don’t think there’s so much emphasis on set-pieces,’ the Liverpool boss said.
He added: ‘Do I like it? My football heart doesn’t like it. If you ask me about football, I think about the Barcelona team from 10, 15 years ago. Every Sunday evening you were hoping they would play.’
But Arteta has consistently hit back at his side’s critics, saying he would like his side to play ‘beautiful football’ but that it was no longer possible in the Premier League.
Arsenal’s style of play continues to come under fire from high-profile names in the game
‘I would like to play with three players extra in my own half to get some beautiful football and play always against a free man,’ the Arsenal boss said earlier this month.
‘This is not the reality of football. You want to watch that (kind of) football, you have to go to a different country because in the Premier League for the last two seasons or three seasons, this is not the case.
‘Now, teams are adapting, teams know after every sequence of play — whether it’s a throw-in, a restarted play, an open-play situation, after a direct play — exactly what they have to do and everything is almost man-to-man.
‘So, it’s going to be a different game unless we change the rules because the evolution of the game is that.’
