Arsenal legend Paul Merson has explicitly ruled his former club from this season's Premier League title race after the 1-0 home defeat on Saturday by West Ham.
The result left the Gunners eight points behind Table Toppers Liverpool with 12 more rounds of luminaires.
Liverpool will travel to Manchester City on Sunday, but speaking at Sky Sports, Mersonnon claimed that even a 7-0 defeat for the leaders would not be enough to reinstall the hope of Arsenal to win the title again.
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.
Merino got the nod at the front after scoring two late goals in a 2-0 win over Leicester seven days earlier.
But Merson said: 'They were lucky last week, let's be honest. It was 0-0, they made Leicester look half-neighborhood last week and Merino then comes up and scores two very good goals. It is a difficult position to play, centering.
'There is not much top center ahead. It is a difficult position to play, and to just throw people there and expect them to do the magic, especially if they have never played there, is really amazing for me. Absolutely amazing.
“He looked like a fish in a tree. I don't want to be disrespectful for him. He is a player in midfield. It is as I am going to play in the middle of half. I mean, you just don't do that. It's like Clinton [Morrison] Go and play immediately. Do you know what I mean? You just can't do that. So yes, I am now taking care of Arsenal. I am now worried about them. '
Asked if he thought the title race was over now, he answered: “A million percent. A million percent. There is no way in which Arsenal Liverpool can catch. They have no attackers.
'They have a young 17-year-old who will have a bright future, a great player. He struggled today, but he is 17 years old.
'Trossard is in my opinion a BIT part player. I think if everyone is fit, he is one of them, you want to go with 30 minutes if you need it. I think he is that kind of player, but he now has to play every game, and then they don't have a center ahead. There is absolutely no chance.
'Even if Liverpool was beaten 7-0 tomorrow, they still can't win the competition. They can't. I saw enough today to know that they are going to struggle until the end of the season.
'How many games do they have left? They will do well to win half. '
Liverpool has lost only one league match throughout the season – a shock 1-0 defeat from Nottingham Forest in Anfield in September.
In the meantime, Saturday's slip-up against West Ham was Arsenal's Doud League loss of the campaign. The Gunners have also drawn more games than the Reds.
Of the 12 remaining league matches of Liverpool, seven are at home and only five gone.
Arsenal has six about it at home and six on the road, including a trip to Anfield on 10 May.
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