Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has said there is an air of invincibility around the club as they look to continue their march towards a first Premier League title against local rivals Everton on Wednesday.
The Reds have been relentless so far this season, winning 13 and drawing one of their 14 league games to open an eight-point lead at the top of the standings and an 11-point gap over defending champions Manchester City.
Liverpool's next task will be against a beleaguered Everton side who are languishing in 17th place having won just four games this season to put manager Marco Silva under severe scrutiny.
While the Merseyside derby comes with its own unique set of pressures, Liverpool are firm favourites to win the game, and Oxlade-Chamberlain has said that the team believe they can win every match they play.
"We're going into the games expecting ourselves to win and anything else we're disappointed with," the England international told the Press Association. "I think that's credit to the good work that we've done as a team over the last few years to be in that position.
"There's times in my career where I definitely haven't gone into all games 100 per cent confident that the team's going to come away winning but with this team, I have that sort of belief in us.
"I think that's the mentality you need to be successful, to have those high standards that nothing else is acceptable. Then you've got to let history take its course.
"Obviously it might not happen every time but when you're going into games with that sort of mindset and belief it simplifies everything else."
Such is Liverpool's position of strength, the league title is very much theirs to lose as the Anfield club aim to win a first top-flight championship since 1990. However, Liverpool held a similar lead last season over City only to surrender a 10-point advantage, and Oxlade-Chamberlain insisted that the club are simply taking it one game at a time.
_____________________________
Aymeric Laporte interview: Of course City can win the league... Liverpool had a similar lead last year
_____________________________
"I don't live under a rock so I hear what people say and the predictions that people make," the former Southampton and Arsenal midfielder said.
"You can't not take notice of other results that are going on around you and the table from time-to-time. It's part and parcel.
"When Man City were out in front for a while a couple of seasons ago they would've had all of these sort of things to come up against.
"You've got to just keep going out and churning out results. There might be a time where results don't go so well and people maybe close the gap a little bit.
"We've got to be also ready for those moments mentally as a team to just keep going and see what happens."
