Michael Owen has told Arsenal it needs to win all of its remaining games if it is to have any chance of beating Liverpool to the Premier League title.
The Gunners missed the chance to narrow the gap to the Reds to five points after falling to a 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham on Saturday. The result means Arne Slot’s side will have the chance to go 11 points clear when they take on Manchester City, with many suggesting a win at the Etihad could be a fatal blow to Arsenal’s hopes.
Some, like Paul Merson, have already handed the title to Liverpool, although with 12 games to go before kick-off at the Etihad, there is still a long way to go before anything is confirmed.
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There is no doubt though that Liverpool is firmly in the driving seat, and former Reds striker Owen believes Arsenal can’t afford another slip-up of any kind if it is to keep its title hopes alive.
“Liverpool has been absolutely brilliant and nobody can deny it deserves to be at the top of the Premier League this season,” Owen told Premier League Productions.
“We are looking at the run-in and asking if Liverpool can do it. Now, Liverpool has to get 29 points out of 36. It's not a banker but that is presuming Arsenal wins every game.
"That is the hard thing. Arsenal is struggling for firepower but that is what it must do [win every game]. Anything less than that and Liverpool will win it."
Arsenal will have to bounce back quickly if it is to respond to that defeat to West Ham, with a difficult trip to Nottingham Forest up next for Mikel Arteta's men on Wednesday.
Reacting to his side's slip-up yesterday, the Gunners' boss said: "We're very disappointed, obviously angry as well. I think you have to congratulate West Ham for the victory and the game they played, but a lot on our side that we were never right and get enough momentum.
"Even though we had 20 shots, and a lot of the ball, I don't think we had the standards and levels needed to have more threat and allow them to run. We allowed West Ham to run in very dangerous positions.
"It's not in our hands. For me I'm really, really annoyed by the things in our hands in terms that we didn't do well as well as we possibly could and that's the performance and the result."
Liverpool.com says: You only need to look at Arsenal’s performance yesterday to see that Liverpool probably won’t even need as many as 29 points to win the title now. The Gunners are struggling with injuries to some key attacking players, but they simply don’t look as good as they have done over the last couple of seasons.
You’d certainly expect them to drop more points before the end of the season, and even their game on Wednesday at Nottingham Forest looks like a prime suspect for that to happen. Drop more points at the City Ground, and the title is surely heading to Anfield, whatever happens to the Reds against City today.
