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Do Arsenal need to splash the cash in January to catch Liverpool?

By mac14 on November 28, 2024

It’s been a tough start to the 2024/25 campaign for Arsenal with injuries, controversial refereeing decisions, silly mistakes and a difficult fixture list all threatening to derail our title bid before it really even began.

Heading into the new season, Arsenal were touted as Man City’s nearest rivals for the title having gone head-to-head with the defending champions in each of the last two seasons. Many thought it would be a straight shoot-out between the Gunners and the Cityzens once again, with Arsenal fans quietly confident we could get the better of Pep Guardiola’s men at a third time of asking.

We made an encouraging start and managed to navigate an horrific schedule that handed us consecutive away trips to Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City. Wins at Villa and Spurs set us up nicely ahead of the game at the Etihad Stadium – where we came agonisingly close to secure a huge win. Despite being down to 10-men following Leandro Trossard’s sending off, Arsenal led 2-1 deep into injury time but John Stones broke our hearts with a 98th minute equaliser.

While it was frustrating not to beat City, seven points from those three away games was a terrific return. We also beat Wolves, Leicester and Southampton at home during the opening weeks, the only dropped points at the Emirates came in a hugely contentious game against Brighton. Arsenal were comfortably leading the game 1-0 when Declan Rice was sent off in controversial circumstances shortly after the break. The game turned on it’s head and Brighton soon equalised. 10-man Arsenal had to hold on for a point in a game that we would surely have won had Rice not been dismissed.

It wasn’t the only contentious decision that has gone against us this season. As well as Trossard’s second yellow for kicking the ball away at City, we also saw William Saliba shown a straight red against Bournemouth following a VAR review after bringing Evanilson down near the half-way line. The referee initially gave a yellow with three of his fellow officials agreeing that was the right call, but one of the VAR’s convinced the ref it should have been a red and Saliba was sent off midway through the first half. Bournemouth went on to win the game 2-0, inflicting our first defeat of the season.

Arsenal then blew a 2-1 lead to draw at home to Liverpool at the Emirates the following week. We dominated the first half and should have had the game wrapped up by half-time but failed to take our chances. Gabriel Magalhaes was forced off early in the season half and was quickly followed by Jurrien Timber. With Saliba suspended, Arsenal’s weakened defence couldn’t hold out as Mo Salah equalised late on for Liverpool.

We produced arguably our worst performance of the season to lose 1-0 away to Newcastle United before drawing 1-1 away to Chelsea the following week. A run of two points in four games saw Arsenal fall nine points behind run-away leaders Liverpool in the title race. We recovered to beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 last weekend but we still trail the Merseysiders by nine points after 12 games. The good news is Man City have imploded and are just one point ahead in second place, but it’s going to take a monumental effort for either of the pre-season favourites to reign in Liverpool.

Arne Slot has surprised many by how quickly he’s settled and got Liverpool playing his way after replacing Jurgen Klopp last summer. The Dutchman enjoyed a very favourable fixture list at the start of the campaign and they were lucky not to lose against us, but you can’t deny they are now a very serious threat for the title.

Can Arsenal catch Liverpool

Fortunately, there are still 26 Premier League games remaining and I’m still quietly confident we can overcome the nine-point deficit. Arsenal have endured a much tougher start and have already got several difficult away games out the way [Villa, Spurs, Man City, Chelsea and Newcastle] while also playing Liverpool and Brighton at home. As it stands, we’ve already played eight of the other top nine clubs who occupy the top half of the table in our opening 12 games. The majority of our matches in the coming weeks will be against sides in the bottom half, so we have a great opportunity to put a run of wins together and close the gap at the top.

In contrast, seven of Liverpool’s 12 games have been against sides in the bottom half and the only notable away games they’ve played have been against Arsenal and Man Utd. Their wins against Brighton, Chelsea and Aston Villa all came at Anfield. So the Reds have a much more difficult fixture list remaining in the last 26 games. They face Man City, Newcastle [away], Everton [away] and Tottenham [away] in the next five games, so I’m fully expecting them drop lots of points.

If we can keep in touch, it could all come down to the huge showdown between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield in May – the third last game of the season. Fans are already trying to buy Liverpool vs Arsenal tickets anticipating it will be a title decider, and it’s sure to be an electrifying game if both clubs are still battling it out at the top of the table.

Do Arsenal need to strengthen in January?

Injuries have played their part in Arsenal’s patchy form this season with the likes of Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice all spending time on the sidelines, but it was Martin Odegaard’s prolonged absence that was particularly felt. The Gunners captain missed 12 games due to an ankle injury and it was no coincidence that we dropped the majority of our points while he was on the sidelines.

Arsenal badly missed Odegaard’s creativity and many felt it was a mistake not to replace Emile Smith Rowe or Fabio Vieira after they were allowed to leave last summer as it left us short of creative midfield option. I would saw Mikel Arteta should be looking to bring in reinforcements in that area this winter, however, I think we already have the answer in the squad. Ethan Nwaneri has been a revelation this season and should certainly have played more minutes while Odegaard was out. I don’t want anyone coming in to block his route to the first team any further, so Arteta should trust Nwaneri from here on.

Up front is also a position that most fans agree we could improve on. Arsenal lack a world class No.9 who can score 25+ goals a season but it’s highly unlikely we’ll be able to buy our key targets in January. Therefore, we’ll have to wait until the summer to sign the likes of Viktor Gyokeres or Alexander Isak unless we’re prepared to pay inflated fees.

The one area I think Arsenal might look at is on the wing. Raheem Sterling’s loan move hasn’t really worked out as he’s struggled to deputise for Bukayo Saka on the right wing when called upon. We need a long-term solution and a player who can play on either flank would be ideal. We may also try to bring in cover at right-back if White’s injury will see him miss a large portion of the season.

Otherwise, I think Arteta will keep his power dry to sign a top striker in the summer. If Arsenal can keep their key men fit, we’re a match for anyone and the club will be quietly confident of being able to overhaul Liverpool’s lead during the second half of the campaign.