Mikel Arteta has suggested his Arsenal side’s injuries are set to end their Premier League challenge after a crushing 2-2 draw against Aston Villa at the Emirates.
Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz gave the home side a 2-0 lead, but Villa hit back through goals from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins inside eight second-half minutes to deal a potentially devastating blow to the title race. ‘Arsenal.
Arsenal have been rocked by injuries to numerous players this season, with Bukayo Saka out until at least March following hamstring surgery, while Gabriel Jesus is out for the season with a cruciate ligament injury prior.
Saka’s teenage understudy Ethan Nwaneri is also missing, while Arteta suffered another blow on the eve of Saturday’s game with William Saliba unable to take part. The defender joins Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu in the treatment room.
Arteta’s replacements consisted of three academy players, three left-backs, Jorginho and Raheem Sterling.
Only the first was introduced, eight minutes from time, as Arsenal chased a winner. In contrast, Darwin Nunez came off the bench to score twice for Liverpool in a stoppage-time victory at Brentford.
The Reds now lead Arsenal by six points with a game in hand, and when asked how crucial that could prove in their bid to win a first title since 2004, Arteta, who was overseeing Arsenal’s third game Arsenal in six days, said: are moments, and obviously they (Liverpool) managed to do it (win).
“They created the substitutes, and the substitutes were impactful and game-changing. On our side, it was the opposite, even after conceding two goals very close to each other.
“The danger was that I knew half the team could go down because we were physically exhausted.”
Asked again if Arsenal will have to move in the transfer market this month, the Spaniard replied: “When you look at the performances, I don’t know how many teams are playing at that level in the league . But when you look at the bench, you would probably say we are very small.
On Saliba, Arteta added: “Tomorrow we will have more information, but am I worried? Yes, of course, especially with the numbers we have in the team and looking at our bench.
Havertz looked to have won the game in the 88th minute, but his strike was disallowed by VAR after he was judged to have deflected Mikel Merino’s shot with his arm.
“I didn’t see it enough, and there was an angle where it looked like the decision was made,” Arteta said.
“I am incredibly proud of this team. It was a huge performance. But I am very disappointed because defending like we did for the second goal cannot be part of our game if we want to be at the highest level in this country. It was nowhere near the required standards.
Villa effectively ended Arsenal’s challenge with a 2-0 win here in April and Unai Emery came back to haunt his former employers once again.
“We showed resilience and the way we responded when we went down two goals was fantastic,” Emery said. “We never gave up.
“Arsenal are competing with Liverpool, so today was a very good test, but we did a fantastic job. In the end I thought maybe we could score another goal to win and that’s the mentality I want.