Mikel Arteta has blamed limited depth in Arsenal's squad for their struggles to keep up with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.
Saturday's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa saw Arsenal fall six points behind the leaders, who saw Darwin Nunez come off the bench to score twice in stoppage time to seal a 2-0 win over Brentford earlier in the day.
That firepower off the bench was missing Arsenalwho are without Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka through long-term injuries, and Arteta insisted his tired squad simply cannot compete with a deep one. Liverpool squad.
Substitutions made an impact and (Liverpool) managed to change the game”, reflected Arteta. “And from our side, it was the opposite although after conceding the two goals very close to each other, the danger was because I knew that half the team was, that we could go downhill because we were physically tired.
“Suddenly, the team found another gear to go again and just put Aston Villa in their box and went and went again, trying to find the goal that we couldn't score at the end.
“When you look at the bench, you probably say I think we're too short.”
Arteta also highlighted concerns about Arsenal's lack of options as he admitted he was “very worried” about Hamstring injury suffered by quarterback William Salibawho joined fellow defenders Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu on the touchline for the Villa game.
The Gunners boss wants reinforcements and has been informed to follow up a January move for RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko before the end of the winter window.