MIKEL ARTETA insisted his Arsenal side would give up on the title race “over my dead body” on Tuesday – but two days later and it could already be out of their reach.
The Gunners are now 13 points behind Liverpool after a difficult week left them dropping five points and failing to score across two games.
After two seasons of stumbling at the final hurdle after leading the pack, Arsenal have been treading unfamiliar ground as the chasers this term.
But in a week when their title rivals Liverpool faced three top Premier League sides and risked opening the door, Arsenal failed to put any pressure on the Reds – dropping points to West Ham and Nottingham Forest.
Arsenal could have closed the gap on the Anfield outfit to just five points if they had taken advantage of Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa last week.
But instead they stumbled their way to a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of the struggling Hammers – ending a 15-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.
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That loss was then compounded by a goalless draw against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, meaning Arsenal picked up just one point from six available.
Liverpool have also played two games since that draw with Villa, beating both Manchester City and Newcastle United with relative ease.
It’s purely hypothetical, but had Arsenal won both their games and Liverpool lost to one of Man City or Newcastle – which wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility – Arteta’s side could have been just five points behind with a game in hand.
As it happens, Arsenal now trail by 13 points and are actually closer to 10th placed Villa (12 points ahead) than they are to Liverpool.
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Arsenal ratings vs Forest as NOBODY looks like scoring for Gunners but Saliba’s a Rolls Royce again
MIKEL ARTETA may not have anyone to put the ball in the back of the net but in William Saliba he has one of the best defenders in the Prem.
The Arsenal boss watched his side’s faint title hopes go well and truly up in smoke in the goalless draw with Nottingham Forest.
But his brilliant backline emerged, once again, with credit from this tricky clash at the City Ground.
Together with Gabriel, Saliba kept a tight lid on Forest dangerman Chris Wood, who scored a hat-trick in his last appearance on this ground.
But the fact the Gunners’ biggest threat at the other end of the pitch came from left-back Riccardo Calafiori – who was subbed off at half-time – says it all about the dire situation Arsenal somehow find themselves in.
Here is how SunSport’s Graeme Bryce rated the Gunners stars’ displays…
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In fact, their role as chasers this season has meant they haven’t spent a single day on top of the tree.
Even 14th placed Manchester United have spent more days on top of the table (one) than Arsenal this term.
Arsenal are of course fighting without any of their first choice front line.
Injuries to Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz have meant that there has been a serious lack of threat in front of goal.
So much so that Arsenal managed just THREE shots on target across both their games with Forest and West Ham.
And they failed to score for the first time in consecutive Premier League games since May 2023.
Their impressive defence has allowed them to grind out draws despite their lack of a potent goalscorer.
In fact, they have drawn NINE times in the league already this season, their highest number since the 2019/20 season.
Mikel Arteta has made no excuses about his team’s shortcomings this season and has fronted up to the fact that, despite injuries, Arsenal are missing that title-winning spark.
But he still isn’t giving up, eyeing European success instead.
He said: “It’s about what we can do, and it was like this a week ago, two weeks before, three months ago.
“That’s the only thing that we can control if we want to have a chance to do anything.
“Today we dropped two points, which is very painful again and we have to step up – we have the Champions League, we have a beautiful competition in front of us and we have to ready for Tuesday.”
Arsenal take on PSV Eindhoven in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday, after sitting out the weekend’s action following their elimination from the FA Cup to Man Utd in January.
But they will still be without any real attacking threat for that clash after Arteta revealed that Saka and Martinelli are expected to be sidelined until April, while Havertz won’t return this season.
It’s hard to point the finger too much at the injuries, however.
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That’s because Arsenal knew their forward options were spread thin heading into the January transfer window and still chose to ignore their attacking deficiencies.
Now the Gunners look to be completely out of any kind of title race – barring a monumental collapse – and are instead tussling with the likes of Forest, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Newcastle and Man City for a spot in the Champions League.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
