Jamie Carragher has highlighted the quality of previous title-winning Arsenal squads in comparison to the current crop which has repeatedly fallen short of Premier League glory.
The Gunners have come desperately close to winning the Premier League under Mikel Arteta, twice finishing just behind record-breaking Manchester City with a considerable points tally.
Following back-to-back title challenges, Arsenal hoped it would be third time lucky this season and were buoyed by Man City’s shocking drop-off, the defending champions outside the Champions League spots after 22 games.
But Liverpool have seemingly taken City’s place as the standout team in the Premier League, moving six points clear of second-placed Arsenal with a game in hand.
Liverpool have been sensational under Jurgen Klopp’s replacement Arne Slot – losing just two games all season – so trailing the Reds is nothing to be ashamed of for title-chasing Arsenal.
But Arteta’s side are not showing the impressive consistency they have over the last two seasons, dropping points in almost half of their league games and winning less matches than high-flying Nottingham Forest.
Carragher doubts Arsenal’s title credentials and has pointed out the difference in quality of the current Gunners squad than the one that won the Premier League under Arsene Wenger in 1997-98.
Discussing Arsenal’s title hopes with Premier League winner Emmanuel Petit, the Liverpool legend said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football: ‘I’ll give you three reasons [why Arsenal can’t win the league].
‘They [Petit’s Arsenal squad in 97-98] had Marc Overmars, Nicolas Anelka and Dennis Bergkamp.
‘This team, at the moment, is playing with [Gabriel] Martinelli, [Leandro] Trossard and [Kai] Havertz… it’s not enough.’
While Carragher has doubts over Arsenal’s ability to win the Premier League, Petit is still backing his former side to challenge Liverpool this season.
Asked if he still believed Arsenal could win the title, Petit said: ‘Yes – and I’ll tell you why.
‘Liverpool and other teams are dealing with so many competitions. Arsenal, they have so many injuries, but they are going to be back soon. They are top players as well, so they are going to be fresh.
‘They are out, almost, of the two national cups, so they can concentrate on the Champions League and Premier League.
‘Liverpool are not doing that well in the last few weeks. They are conceding goals all the time and they are not confident. Saka is coming back soon and the [January] market is not over yet as well.’
Arsenal threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Aston Villa last time out and have now dropped 12 points from winning positions this season.
‘You can’t be doing that if you want to be crowned champions at the end of the season,’ former Premier League striker Glenn Murray said on the BBC Radio 5 Live Football Daily podcast.
‘That is a real concern for Mikel Arteta. They were a team that people thought were game management masters and now all of a sudden they don’t look that way.
‘When behind or a game is in the balance they seem to lose their way. They don’t have the balls going into the box because they don’t have a physical number nine that will win aerial duals.
‘They have a few injury concerns but it just doesn’t seem to be clicking at Arsenal at the moment. Something is not right.’
Arsenal return to action on Wednesday night against Champions League rivals Dinamo Zagreb before facing Premier League relegation-battlers Wolves at the weekend.
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