Pep Guardiola made the decision to rest a number of star players for Manchester City as they took on Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. City were crowned champions for a fifth time in six years after Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The Gunners proved to be City's only real challengers for the title this year - but Mikel Arteta's side fell away towards the end of the season allowing Guardiola and his players to win their third consecutive Premier League title. Arsenal had held an eight-point lead over City heading into April, but points dropped in games against Liverpool, Southampton and West Ham proved to be their undoing.
Whilst the Gunners have taken a huge step forwards this season, there is a still a key problem that they must overcome if they are to beat City to the title next term. Liverpool have been the only side able to pip Guardiola's team to the title in the last six years and Mikel Arteta must find a way to replicate the Reds' accomplishment if the north Londoners are to end their wait for a title.
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Squad depth has been an issue for Arsenal this season with injuries seeing the likes of William Saliba, Thomas Partey, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli all miss significant periods of the season. City's superior squad has been built over a number of years and allows them to challenge at the highest level for every trophy, every season.
Guardiola named a rotated team against Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium but the quality in the starting XI is still levels above many other Premier League sides. Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Rodri, Jack Grealish and Ederson were all named amongst the substitutes - equating to a combined value of around £477million.
This just shows the level of talent and quality in City's squad - something Arsenal must aspire to replicate using a different approach since they cannot realistically compete financially with City. Arteta will look to add quality reinforcements in defence, midfield and attack to help Arsenal's ability to consistently perform throughout the season and challenge for trophies.
The Gunners' bench against Forest cost the club just £70million - a whopping £400million less than the Premier League champions. Yes, Arsenal were missing a number of stars through injury and usually City would start the likes of De Bruyne, Haaland and Co.
But it highlights the gap between the two squads in terms of depth and investment. Arsenal will need to back Arteta in the transfer market if they are to close the gap to City on the pitch and end their wait for a Premier League title.
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