Arsenal will 'hand Liverpool the title' as Gunners icon strips Arne Slot of all praise

Arsenal are only so far behind in the Premier League title race because their mistakes handed Liverpool a huge lead, according to a former Gunners star.

The Reds have seen their lead cut to seven points after a thrilling 3-3 draw with Newcastle on Wednesday night, while Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium to make it three wins on the bounce.

Mikel Arteta’s side have missed out on the title to Manchester City by a narrow margin in each of the last two seasons, although the consensus was that Pep Guardiola’s men were unbeatable.

But ex-Arsenal defender William Gallas thinks there is still an outside chance Liverpool can be caught as their lead is not down to Arne Slot’s brilliance, but his former club’s errors.

“I think there is still a title race despite Liverpool’s lead. Arsenal are still in the race, but they don’t have a choice,” Gallas said, speaking on behalf of Prime Casino.

“They are still in the race, even if it’s nine points difference. That’s because we know around Christmas and New Year’s, clubs can drop some points.

“So now the question is if Arsenal can still put pressure on Liverpool. They need to stay behind them and not drop any more points, because they don’t have a choice. They have to win every game.

“They have to repeat the performance they did against West Ham in every single game. Can they do this? Because listen, if Liverpool win the league, everybody will say ‘Liverpool were too strong. Arne Slot is a big manager’.

“But for me, it will be because Arsenal made mistakes. If Arsenal doesn’t win the league this season, that will be their fault.”

Slot has overseen an impressive run of 11 wins from his first 14 games in charge to put the Merseyside outfit firmly in control of their destiny, as no team in Premier League history has squandered the nine-point lead they had after 13 games.

But Gallas, 47, thinks that City cannot be discounted either, despite only ending their seven-game winless run last night by beating Nottingham Forest 3-0.

“I don’t think City are out of the title race. They lost four games in a row. Mentally, they were really down,” he added. “They’re trying everything and nothing works.

“That’s why before they played against Liverpool, I’m sure Guardiola spoke with his players and said many things. The Premier League is about what?

“It’s about intensity. You can have good possession of the ball, but you need to put intensity in your game. And against Liverpool, City didn’t show any intensity.

“City used to keep the ball really well, but they tried to play on the counter attack against Liverpool and it didn’t work. They were dominated.”