Mikel Arteta blames Arsenal’s limited squad strength for making it difficult for them to keep up with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.
Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday left them six points behind the leaders, who earlier in the day saw Darwin Nunez come on as a substitute and score twice in stoppage time to seal a 2-0 win over Brentford seal.
That firepower from the bench was missing from Arsenal, who are without Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka due to long-term injuries, and Arteta insisted his depleted side simply cannot keep up with a strong Liverpool squad.
“The substitutes made the impression and [Liverpool] “I managed to change the game,” reflected Arteta. “And on our side it was the opposite, although the danger was that we could go downhill after conceding the two goals very close together because I knew half the team were like that, we were physical exhausted.
“Suddenly the team found a different gear and just put Aston Villa in the penalty area and kept trying to find the goal, which we couldn’t score in the end.”
“If you look at the bank, you’ll probably say, ‘I think we’re very small.’”
Arteta also highlighted concerns over Arsenal’s lack of options, admitting he was “very concerned” about the hamstring injury suffered by centre-back William Saliba, who was on the sidelines for the Villa game alongside fellow defenders Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
The Gunners coach wants reinforcements and is said to be targeting a January move for RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko before the end of the winter window.