Martin Keown has identified three matches at the beginning of the year which Liverpool can further underline its title credentials in.

The Reds' status as Premier League favorites was cemented with Sunday's 6-3 victory over Tottenham, with Arne Slot's men four points clear of second-placed Chelsea and with a game in hand over Enzo Maresca's men.

Liverpool faces Leicester and West Ham before the year is out, but Keown pinpointed games against Bournemouth, Brentford and Nottingham Forest as fixtures which could test Arne Slot's side at the beginning of the new year.

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All three games fall within Liverpool's first five league fixtures of 2025, and Keown told talkSPORT: "Bournemouth have become a very good team now, certainly at home - beating Arsenal and Man City.

"Forest are the only team to have beaten Liverpool and Brentford have only lost one home game, and they're just three of the games where you'd have looked and thought that is normally three points that they can pick up. But this Liverpool team, we've reached the halfway mark, there's no doubt they're the best team at the moment."

Keown thinks that he has spotted deficiencies in Liverpool's mentality during the first half of the season, but noted the team's ability to find a way to win as a positive. The former Arsenal defender added: "I thought they were magnificent against Spurs, you could say Spurs were naive - their manager [Ange Postecoglou] wants to continue to play this high line - and the high press.

"But they exploited it and they knew how to do that and their front three were devastating. [Diogo] Jota coming off the bench - they've got a lot of options in the final third. There's a nervousness that could creep into Liverpool's game. They went to Newcastle recently and it was quite difficult for them, even at Southampton they were behind, but they found a way to win."