Arsenal have been looking for every vital sign that this is the season when they will finally make the leap from pretenders to Premier League champions – but the indications are already ominous.
Mikel Arteta’s side showed plenty of guts in defensively reduced circumstances in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Emirates Stadium, but there will be deep frustration at getting one point rather than three.
Arsenal had victory in their sights as they led through Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino’s goals with only nine minutes left, only to fall victim to a sweeping Liverpool counter attack and Mohamed Salah’s equaliser.
There was plenty to admire in Arsenal’s performance, delivered despite the handicap of losing key defenders Gabriel and Jurrien Timber in the second half when holding that slender lead, to go with the absence of suspended William Saliba and injured Riccardo Calafiori.
These are the mitigating circumstances, but for Arteta and his players in the ruthless business at the top of the Premier League, the league table now bears a worrying look.
The Gunners’ draw with Liverpool helped only Manchester City, now established in the familiar position as leaders, and with margins for error wafer thin when trying to overhaul Pep Guardiola’s sky blue machine, a five-point gap to the top is already reaching the point where it cannot be allowed to get any wider.
Arsenal pushed the champions all the way in the last two seasons only to lose out to those unstoppable surges City have made their trademark, even after outstanding starts to those campaigns.
In season 2022-23, Arsenal were one point clear of City after nine games and last season they were only two points adrift. And the task of finishing ahead of the champions proved too much for them.
There has been a sense there will be more flux about this Premier League campaign, less of a sense of inevitability. Arsenal – and indeed Liverpool – must hope this proves to be the case.
Arteta, when asked out being five points behind, admitted: “You don’t want to be in that position. You want to be five points ahead but it is where we are.”
Arsenal have plenty of heart, as they demonstrated here as they ended battling to keep Liverpool at bay with a back four of Thomas Partey, Ben White, Jakub Kiwior and 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly.
There was, however, a lack of ambition and belief that saw them fail to capitalise on their first half-superiority. It was inevitable Liverpool would improve, as they had to, but Arsenal did not create enough and the concession of so much territory and possession brought inevitable results.
The added pain for Arsenal will come with the fact that this was a Liverpool performance that was largely pedestrian and lacking in spark, although where there is Salah there is always hope.
The leveller he swept home from Darwin Nunez’s pass was his eighth goal of the season to go with seven assists. He is now level with Robbie Fowler on 163 Premier League goals for Liverpool.
Arteta declared, with justification, that he was proud of his team. They are certainly able to stand tall in games among the so-called “Big Six”. It is now 14 games since they lost to Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham.
The impressive record continues here but the big fear is that is has come at a heavy cost when measured both in the two points lost late on and their increasing injury list.
Arsenal’s ability to keep players fit was part of the bedrock of last season’s title tilt. Saliba, suspended here, played all 38 league games while Gabriel missed only two. Martin Odegaard and Saka only missed two.
Arteta’s squad is being severely tested this season with new signings Merino and Calafiori already suffering injuries along with Odegaard and Saka. The sight of Gabriel going to ground a second time and unable to play on, then sitting with an ice pack on his knee and thigh was a worrying one as so much of what they do is built around his defensive partnership with Saliba.
The manager’s views were mixed, as were his emotions, as he said: “I’m very proud of the team, especially with the situation we are going through at the moment. We were really good, really sharp. The score should have been bigger and without conceding anything we gave two goals away.
“We have five injuries in the back line and it’s a situation we have to deal with. I’m very disappointed we have not won the game.”
Arteta added to BBC Match Of The Day: “The team played so well, we were dominant and very determined. Really aggressive and played in the right areas to create some big chances.
“We are open in transition for the second goal. Against this Liverpool team, you cannot do that if you want to win the game.”
It was a costly lapse when every dropped point brings pain in the chase to overhaul City.
The upshot of an eventful, topsy-turvy encounter at Emirates Stadium is that it is advantage City.
And history tells us five points is a significant advantage to remorseless City at any stage of the season. Arsenal must hope it is not already too much.