Liverpool earned a valuable away win against Aston Villa with two early strikes by Craig Bellamy on 10 mins and a Martin Skrtel header five minutes later.
Villa were there for the taking, however Liverpool failed to press home their advantage.
True, Luis Suarez had two great shots hit the woodwork but mostly the reds played a subdued brand of football, unsure of whether to go all-out for the jugular and hammer home their advantage or to keep things tight and keep a clean sheet away from home.
I lost count of the amount of times Jordan Henderson passed the ball back to Martin Skrtel when he should have been looking ahead for passes to Bellamy, Adam and Suarez.
Apart from the bright opening 15 minutes, the game was a bit of an anti-climax.
I suppose credit is due to Steve Clarke for instilling a determination not to concede a goal into this Liverpool team.
Also the fact that I am slightly disappointed after a good away win shows how far we have come.
I put Liverpool ahead of Arsenal because even though we are both level on points and goal difference, we have a better head to head record, having beaten the Gunners 2-0 at the Emerites earlier this Season.
Next up: Wigan away on Wednesday night.
Premier League Table
TEAMS PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST GOAL DIFF POINTS
MAN CITY 16 13 2 1 35 41
MAN UTD 16 12 3 1 23 39
SPURS 15 11 1 3 13 34
CHELSEA 16 10 2 4 15 32
LIVERPOOL 16 8 5 3 7 29
ARSENAL 16 9 2 5 7 29
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