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Martin Odegaard sends title message to Liverpool after Arsenal drops more points

Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard has sent a bold message to Premier League leader Liverpool after what proved to be a near-perfect 24 hours for the title favorite.

Following the postponement of the Merseyside Derby against Everton due to Storm Darragh, the Reds sat back and watched their main competitors stumble. Manchester City was held by Crystal Palace on Saturday, shortly after Liverpool's own match was canceled.

To add to the early Christmas gifts for Arne Slot and his squad, the Gunners lost further ground in this season's title race with a 1-1 draw against Fulham on Sunday. Chelsea was the only team to cut Liverpool's lead to four points after beating Tottenham 4-3.

Sunday's game also saw Arsenal suffer a triple injury blow before kick-off. However, according to Odegaard, whose team are now trailing by six points - even having played an extra game - it's not time to panic.

He told Sky Sports: "We dominated most of the game. The first half wasn't great. We were a bit sloppy and lacked energy and power. The second half was a lot better. It's frustrating not to win. We were close in the end with the goal. They're a good team. They know how to defend - with a solid block - and we didn't do enough.

"We have to learn from that and straight back in for the next one. We have to focus on ourselves. We don't care about the other teams [in the title race]. We did a lot of good things. We have to do more and put the ball in the box more times. Maybe be a bit more direct and aggressive. We could have won it in the end. It's a very long way to go - and we've said hundreds of times we have to keep going game by game."

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, told BBC Sport: "Very disappointed not to win the game, overall we absolutely dominated the game from start to end, we did all the things that we wanted to do during the game and unfortunately we concede one goal in one shot but the way the team played, the way the team wanted to win, it was unbelievable and very unfortunate for millimetres to win or don't win in this league and that's the disappointing thing tonight."

Arteta was also asked about failing to capitalize on Liverpool's postponement. He said: "Yeah, we have really good momentum, the teams playing really well, winning a lot of games and today we wanted to do it again but the performance 100 percent was there. The winning probability would be so high but this is football and the margins are so small."

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