At the other end of the table, Manchester United and Tottenham are looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone after dismal defeats on Sunday.
Bournemouth brought Newcastle’s winning streak to a stunning halt to further their case for a first ever European campaign next season.
AFP Sport looks at three talking points from the weekend’s action:
Seismic Saturday in the title race
After the 90 minutes had come and gone at the Gtech Community Stadium, it looked like Arsenal could close to within two points of Liverpool with victory over Villa.
By the end of the day, the Reds had rescued a 2-0 win and their lead was six points, with a game in hand.
The much-maligned Nunez has fallen down the pecking order under Arne Slot.
But the Uruguay striker doubled his Premier League goal tally for the season with a stoppage-time brace to prevent Liverpool dropping points for the third consecutive game.
Arsenal should still have narrowed the leaders’ advantage to four after they led Villa 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
However, uncharacteristically sloppy defending cost the Gunners as Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins snatched a point for the visitors in a huge day in the title race.
Nottingham Forest may still harbour dreams of a title challenge.
A 3-2 win over Southampton on Sunday took Nuno Espirito Santo’s team level with second-placed Arsenal.
But third-placed Forest are unlikely to last the course to leave Liverpool closing in on just a second league title in 35 years.
‘Worst Man Utd in history’
