The title bid of Arsenal received two potentially fatal strokes during the weekend, which ended with Liverpool 11 points clearly at the top of the table.
The Gunners lost 1-0 at home from West Ham United on Saturday, before Liverpool won 2-0 in Manchester City on Super Sunday.
Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli all miss the game of Saturday at Emirates Stadium.
In their absence, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta Middielder Mikel Merino started as an improvised center Vooruit, with Leandro Trossard and the 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri both sides of him.
Speaking on Sunday, the former captain of Manchester United Gary Neville criticized Arsenal's lack of transfer planning, stating this as an important cause for their failures to tackle problems with injuries and keep pace with Liverpool.
But Neville also suggested that the rise of fame from set-piece coach Nicolas Jover was partly the fault of Arsenal and found it difficult to score open game.
Jover received public popularity for the first time last season when his free kick and corner routines started to get the attention among fans. Since then, he has rarely been far from manager Arteta on the Touchline during competitions, while there is even a mural from him outside the Emirates.
Arsenal scored 20 Premier League goals from Set pieces last season, more than any other team. So far they have scored 10 set-piece goals this period.
Sky Sports Pundit Neville said: 'It's a defense [having multiple injuries to attacking players]But then you have to plan it.
“I know they didn't want to do business in the January transfer star. They thought that there was not the kind of value in the market or they could not get the player who would come in and would have an impact, but they left themselves briefly. There is no doubt about that.
“And they have fallen short. Even without [the injured] Players, they still have to do that work yesterday.
'The last two seasons they went very close and I had a lot of admiration for them. I felt that they were coming close [to winning the title]. This season is more a problem for them than the last two. Because when the city was not there, the team that had to be there, Arsenal was because of the growth and how close they got.
“And they won't be, it doesn't look.
“That is the big shock and surprise. And that will be the one who will hit the hardest in the Arsenal boardroom, and with Mikel Arteta, and the dressing room and the players, because they would desperately win a title and they would feel that they were getting closer. So it's a blow.
'Liverpool has dropped points in their last eight games. Liverpool signed two in the last three or four in the last eight. Arsenal had the chance to get closer, they could have disappeared within five points yesterday. It's a big blow. A really big blow.
'Questions are asked because it is that kind of season where you think it was for the taking. Arne Slot has arrived as the new manager, [Jurgen] Klopp's left. I certainly felt that there would be a drop-off in Liverpool, but Slot has been such a cool customer from the first day. He has full control.
'Arsenal has become quite rigid, they have sometimes become pretty turgid to look. This obsession with set pieces, which caught up their entire play, exacerbated by this presence of the set piece coach on the touchline that places more focus on set pieces. It's like … no. Freedom has disappeared a bit from them.
“I know they have lost Saka, and I know they have lost Jesus, and I know they have lost Havertz, which are great strokes. I mean, let's be clear, that's a big problem for Arsenal. But I still think you should do that work against West Ham at home yesterday. '
Colleague Sky Pundit Jamie Redknapp tore earlier during the weekend in Arsenal when he claimed that the men of Arteta were no longer good to look at.
'I think they have been a difficult watch. I have never really seen that fluidity, the movement, the excitement about their game. They have gone a bit with set pieces and everything is about. And it was a difficult watch for them, you know.
“And especially this year where they would have felt, you know, with Manchester City who is struggling so much:” This is our chance “, they really don't take it. And I know they have injuries, but you can see that he brings Declan Rice off at the end. I don't know how many minutes to go, but he brings him into the game.
“He can't find that rhythm in the team he wants. He has his own way of playing, and he tries to do it a bit and he wants to win so much and he gets a bit too nervous. The fans sends that out. He must try to stay calm and just let some rhythm go.
'Forget Liverpool now, make sure they start getting some rhythm and winning some games. You said they got Nottingham Forest in midweek? I mean, I couldn't think of a more difficult place to go, that's really difficult for them. They must find a way.
'Much of it has been brought myself, I think, when I look at Arsenal. It is very easy to blame everyone, but the versions have not been good enough so far. '
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