Mind games make up a Premier League title battle almost as much as what happens on the pitch, as a manager looks to find the edge over his rivals.

That may have been at play in Mikel Arteta’s pre-match news conference on Friday when the Arsenal boss was asked whether he expects leaders Liverpool to have a difficult spell.

“They normally do,” he said. “So we have to be there. That’s for sure.”

But based on Saturday’s display, Liverpool are showing no signs of suffering a blip anytime soon as they swept aside Ipswich 4-1 to maintain their six-point advantage over the Gunners, who edged past Wolves.

The Reds scored four goals with the in-form Cody Gakpo getting two, while Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai were also on the scoresheet.

It extends their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 18 games and keeps them firmly in the driving seat, as they also have a game in hand over second-placed Arsenal.

“It’s extraordinary what Liverpool are doing,” former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin said on BBC Radio 5 live.

“They do make it look easy.”

Liverpool’s title challenge was not expected by many at the start of the season but Arne Slot – who replaced Jurgen Klopp in the summer – found his feet far quicker than anticipated.

Salah has been their leading light from the start of the season and his latest goal took him to 19 for the season – the most by any player in the Premier League at this stage.

But what is also worrying for Liverpool’s rivals are the improvements others in the team have shown as the campaign has gone on.

Gakpo’s double on Saturday means he has scored five goals in his past six Premier League games, helping to take some of the pressure off talisman Salah.

Szoboszlai is also becoming more of a threat. At the start of the season he was managing just one or two shots per game, but that has increased significantly.

Against Ipswich, he had four shots – more than any other player – and on another day could have had more than the one goal he managed.

But as a team they also appear to be providing even more attacking threat and, at Brentford last weekend, they had 37 shots – the most ever by an away team in Premier League history, since records began.

“That is the development the team is in,” Slot said. “We have our players now in even more promising positions than last season.

“At the beginning of the season he [Szoboszlai] would have played that ball [for his goal] to Mohamed Salah but this time he decided to go for goal himself.

“He is a bit underestimated, not by me, but he doesn’t get the credit because his work-rate is unbelievable. That is so important for the team.”

Liverpool were always seen as free-scoring under Klopp but under Slot they are more pragmatic, with Saturday’s win the first time they have scored four or more goals in the league at Anfield this term.

Strong home form is always key to a title push and the Reds have now picked up more points (26) and wins (eight) at home in the Premier League this season than any other side.

Facing teams fighting for survival has the potential to cause a team at the top to slip up, as they become frustrated at trying to break down an opponent with a low block.

But that did not look likely for Liverpool from the moment they opened Ipswich up for Szoboszlai’s opener.

From then they calmly added three further goals to ensure Ipswich’s late pressure resulted in nothing more than a consolation goal.

“If you are going to be passive against a team like Liverpool, you are going to be punished,” former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha said.

“Credit to Liverpool, they find ways to win games. For them, they just keep winning.”

While Liverpool are in the driving seat, a couple of bad results can quickly see a six-point advantage disappear. It is clearly not a title-winning advantage and certainly not at this stage of the season.

Crucial for Liverpool will be winning their game in hand, as a nine-point advantage becomes harder to overcome – both on the pitch and psychologically.

History shows it can be done, even at this stage of a season.

In 1996, Manchester United trailed Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle by 12 points after 23 matches, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s side ended up lifting the title after a final-day win against Middlesbrough.

But Slot and his players are refusing to get distracted by the title battle, instead looking to take each game as it comes.

“We are mainly focused on ourselves,” he added.

“We had to win this game because it’s expected from Liverpool that we win this game.

“It’s so pleasing to see that we had a comfortable win.”