Arsenal did not manage to win the transfer window this time, so they will have to content themselves with a tilt at the Premier League. It is too early to speak of must-win assignments but most around the Emirates would concur that Liverpool’s visit on Sunday is a match the home side cannot afford to lose. Bridging an eight-point gap to the leaders, with Manchester City a more than interested party in between, would look a challenge too far.
If Mikel Arteta’s players bring the level of performance that, for at least half their FA Cup third-round tie last month, repeatedly exposed the Liverpool defence, then they should be fancied to reap greater reward this time. That would ease concerns, shared by their manager, that they would be treading a tightrope between now and May. Arteta may have been laying it on thick when he claimed Arsenal have “one of the thinnest squads in the league” but there are question marks over their ability to withstand injuries in certain key positions.
