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Arsenal gives Liverpool enormous Premier League title confidence amid Mikel Arteta admission

While Liverpool was unable to get a win against Fulham, battling back from a goal behind to draw 2-2 with the West London side thanks to goals from Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota, elsewhere in the Premier League, Arsenal couldn't capitalize.

Facing Everton at the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners could only draw themselves, failing to find a goal — from a set-piece or otherwise — against Sean Dyche's men. Finishing 0-0 in the capital, that was a chance for Arsenal to come back into the reckoning.

Mikel Arteta's team came close to scoring through Martin Odegaard but neither he nor Bukayo Saka was able to find a breakthrough. Dropping two points at home without having to come from behind with 10 men, Arsenal will be ruing the missed chance.

"Any opportunity that Arsenal don't get a result is always going to be a missed opportunity because Liverpool are relentless," Theo Walcott said on BBC Radio 5Live while the game was unfolding. "You wouldn't have thought Liverpool had 10 men in that game."

"It was a dogged performance from Everton," he added on the Arsenal match. "You could have predicted that performance before the game but of course it's a missed opportunity."

Now six points behind Liverpool having played a game more than the Reds because of the postponed Merseyside derby, Arsenal is still relatively distant in the Premier League title picture. Chelsea, facing Brentford tomorrow, is Liverpool's nearest challenger.

Mikel Arteta before the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Everton FC at Emirates Stadium on December 14, 2024 (Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

With a friendly-looking fixture list, this was meant to be the time that Arsenal would click into gear and really put the pressure on. But while in some ways Liverpool not winning either will offer hope, the Gunners will be kicking themselves even more having found out what happened at Anfield.

"It's disappointing not to win the game," Arteta admitted to the BBC post-match. "You don't concede any shots. Not losing any set-pieces. You have chances. it's about scoring goals. We opened them up. We had the chances. We have to put them away. Everton at the end they got a point. We didn't score. They're happy with the result."

In a title race where it has left itself with a very limited margin for error, Arsenal has slipped up again. Liverpool, leading the way with a gap at the top, won't be looking over its shoulder — at least in the direction — just yet.

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