Arsenal fans were hoping this would be their season, having narrowly edged out Manchester City in each of the last two seasons.
And with City faltering – after four straight defeats in all competitions – this might have been their ideal chance.
But Liverpool are doing better than anyone could have imagined under new coach Arne Slot, with 28 points out of a possible 33.
And the Gunners find themselves nine points behind the leaders at the end of a weekend for the first time since the final day of the 2021/22 season, when they were 24 points behind Manchester City.
They looked dejected as the final whistle blew at Stamford Bridge.
Walcott said: “The difference with Arsenal at the moment is that they are lacking goals and are not conceding many – but at this point in the season it is important to take into account who they have played against.”
“I would say they have played against tougher teams so far – they played six of the top 10 last season and five of those games were away.”
“They were also without their main player, Martin Odegaard, for most of the time and they are still where they are.”
Captain Odegaard made his first Premier League appearance since August against Chelsea and assisted Gabriel Martinelli's opening goal.
Walcott added: “People tend to forget all that when they look at Arsenal not playing at the same level as last year, but for me it is one of the reasons not to write them off in the title race.”
Gunners legend Paul Merson said on Sky Sports: “He [Arteta] must ensure that it drops to six points instead of twelve.
“I think they will do well to catch Liverpool now. It could stay at nine until the end of December. If it gets to twelve, it’s over.”
Can Arsenal do it? Well, history is not on their side.
Aside from the teams with games to play, no one has ever won the Premier League title after being nine (or more) points off the leaders in 11 games.
Manchester City did it in 2013/14, but league leaders Arsenal had played 12 games at that point.
Speaking about his title rivals, Arteta said his team must “win, win, win, win and win because these guys don't stop winning.”
If they won every remaining game this season they would finish with 100 points, with Liverpool's current form putting them on course for 97 points.
