Arsenal icon Martin Keown has highlighted how the absence of two players hurt the Gunners during their 2-1 loss to Manchester City on Sunday. Goals from Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland helped City secure a crucial win in the race for the Premier League title.
Mikel Arteta's team hold a three-point lead over Manchester City at the moment. But the Cityzens have a game in hand, and if they win that game against Burnley on Wednesday, they will go straight to the top of the table on goal difference.
There is no doubt that the belief around the north Londoners winning the league title has waned in recent weeks. They have lost four out of their last six games, with back-to-back defeats to Bournemouth and City hurting their chances in the league, after the Carabao Cup final loss and FA Cup exit.
In the wake of what has been a few challenging weeks that led to the loss against Manchester City, Keown pointed to the growing injury problem at Arsenal. He feels his former team were strong in all four competitions before the injury crisis.
Keown also added that the absence of Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori hurt the league leaders, who were forced to play four centre-backs in the game against City.
"It’s normal to feel nervous but it’s about how you react. I don’t believe that the injuries Arsenal have had have helped them. Timber and Saka are not available for Arsenal. Perhaps Arsenal bit off more than they can chew. They were really big in four competitions.
"Is the workload playing a part here? Perhaps that game came at the wrong time. The squads players that come in meant Arsenal played with four central defenders yesterday.
"No Calafiori to develop the play in midfield like they normally have. No Timber and that tenacity he has to help deal with Haaland when he’s doing his stuff.
"People come in to replace who is missing, we were on our third right-back yesterday."
Arsenal will be hoping they can return to winning ways on Saturday, when they face Newcastle United at home. Notably, they secured a thrilling 2-1 comeback win in the reverse fixture as Mikel Merino and Gabriel Magalhaes scored inside the final minutes to break Newcastle hearts at St. James Park.
Mikel Arteta not giving up on Arsenal title dream just yet
Manchester City v Arsenal - Premier League - Source: Getty
Manchester City v Arsenal - Premier League - Source: Getty
Even after the loss against Manchester City, Mikel Arteta remains confident about his team in the Premier League title race. The Spaniard insists it is far from over like some people think and expressed full confidence in his players.
Arteta told reporters:
"We are not going to stop, we gonna go again. The title race is not over at all. I believe today, I believe on Wednesday, a week ago.. because I see them every day. I know the level we have. We won't stop.
"There are five games for us and six for them. We're still three points ahead. There is still so much to play. We can do it. We have full belief that we can do it. We've been doing it. Today we showed again the team that we are. It's in our hands, and it's there for the taking."
Arteta is look to win his second trophy as manager at the Emirates. The only major honour he lifted was the FA Cup back in 2019/20, which was his first season in charge.