Mikel Arteta compares Arsenal and Liverpool bench options and says Gunners ‘very short’ after Aston Villa draw | Football news

Mikel Arteta bemoaned his options from the bench as Arsenal went 2-0 up against Aston Villa hours after super-substitute Darwin Nunez saved title rivals Liverpool.

The Reds were able to call on substitutes Nunez, Andrew Robertson, Federico Chiesa, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott as their dominance and fresh legs eventually wore Brentford down to secure a 2-0 injury-time win in west London.

After Aston Villa erased Arsenal’s lead by the same scoreline, leaving them in danger of falling six points clear of the league leaders, Arteta made just one change from his bench, bringing on Raheem Sterling for Gabriel Martinelli with eight minutes remaining – a change that ultimately failed to work ensure victory.

The Gunners – who have not been helped by a lack of key players at both ends of the pitch – have failed in their attempts to sign the outstanding forward this summer, leaving Arteta to admit he does not feel he has the same opportunities as his rivals to change the game from the bench as his players struggled with the physical strain of the third game in six days.

Arsenal dropped 12 points from winning positions in the Premier League, the most in a campaign in five years and already three more than last season, while against Villa their other substitutions consisted of three academy players, three left-backs and a deep-lying midfielder Jorginho.

“There are moments and obviously (Liverpool) managed to (win) it,” Arteta said. “They made substitutions and the substitutions made an impact and changed the game.

“It was the opposite for our side, even after conceding two goals very close together. The danger was that I knew half the team could go downhill because we were physically exhausted.”

“I’m incredibly proud of this team. It was an incredible performance. But I’m very disappointed because defending the way we did for the second goal can’t be part of our game if we want to be at the highest level in this country. It was nowhere near what we needed standard.”

Will Arsenal strengthen their ranks in January?

Arteta appeared to suggest that they need reinforcements in the January transfer window to back up the level of performance he felt they showed against Villa, where midfielder Thomas Partey replaced the right-back due to a lack of defense.

The Gunners are closing in on signing Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi, although the Spanish midfielder will remain at Real Sociedad until the end of the season.

Arsenal were linked with a January move for Benjamin Cesko, their top attacking target last summer – although the Slovenian’s agent has suggested he will remain at RB Leipzig during this window.

Sky Sports understands the club is working hard to recruit strikers until the end of the month, but is reluctant to pay the inflated fees that can come with the winter window.

Asked if the club will have to move in the transfer market this month, he replied: “When you look at the performances, I don’t know how many teams are playing at this level in the league. But when you look at the bench, you’d probably say we’re very low.”

On the absence of William Saliba, who missed the game with Villa due to what the club called a “minor problem”, Arteta added: “We will have more information on Sunday, but am I worried? Yes, for sure, especially with the numbers we have in team and looking at our bench.”

Arsenal’s injury list – Saliba adds to Arteta’s concerns

Gunners are currently without:

• William Saliba
• Bukayo Saka
• Gabriel Jesus
• Ethan Nwaneri
• Riccardo Calafiori
• Ben White
• Takehiro Tomiyasu

Are Arsenal’s title hopes over?

Sky Sports’ Nick Wright at the Emirates Stadium:

It remains to be seen how costly it could be for Arsenal, but the deflated mood at the Emirates Stadium told the story. As well as the dejection of the local players as they left the field.

Arsenal still have 16 games to play, of course. But Liverpool have 17 and are already six points ahead. It’s a huge gap, as it stands now, and the worry is that it will only widen.

The Gunners dropped just nine points from winning positions last season, the second lowest total in the Premier League. But their failure against Villa means their total for the current campaign already stands at 12.

It’s a worrying statistic for a side that has developed a reputation for defensive resilience under Mikel Arteta, and there are problems in attack too, where chances continue to be scorned.

There may yet be twists and turns in this race, but injury-depleted Arsenal, with Saliba now added to the absentee list, give the impression of a side struggling to keep pace.

Arteta has no objections to the handball call

Kai Havertz briefly looked like winning the game in the 88th minute only for his shot to be ruled out by VAR after he was adjudged to have turned Mikel Merino’s shot away with his hand.

Arteta initially said he didn’t see enough narrow choice corners, but later admitted it appeared to be the right decision to deny his side a late win.

“Yes, I saw it,” he said BBC Sport. “From one angle, it doesn’t look like it [handball] and from another angle it still looks like handball.

“The decision was made. We had many other opportunities that we could have solved without that goal.”