Arsenal remain firmly in contention for the Premier League title despite the "dagger" of dropping two points in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Fulham, according to Gunners expert Charles Watts.
Having hit Sporting Lisbon and West Ham United for five on the road since the November international break, Arsenal were backed for a fifth successive win in all tournaments against their London rivals, whom they failed to beat in either meeting during the 2023-24 season.
However, despite their dominance in possession, Arsenal went into half time a goal down thanks to Raul Jimenez's tidy finish and needed a William Saliba set-piece equaliser to depart with a point from Craven Cottage, as their four-match winning run in all tournaments came to an abrupt end.
Bukayo Saka momentarily thought that he had conjured up a last-gasp winning goal, only for Gabriel Martinelli to have strayed offside in the build-up, and Watts admitted that the delirium becoming dejection made the afternoon that little bit more painful for Arsenal.
"It was a blow," Watts told Sports Mole. "It was a good weekend for Liverpool without even kicking a ball. If Tottenham had held on against Chelsea it would have been the perfect weekend for Liverpool. I'm sure Arne Slot and his players were sitting back with their feet up on Saturday enjoying what they were watching at Selhurst Park and at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Watts: 'Arsenal know they should have beaten Fulham'
"For Arsenal it was definitely a blow. You could sense it as they were walking off the pitch at Craven Cottage. I think the late goal that was ruled out made it feel even worse as well because they had that high of thinking you turned it around and got three valuable points and then to have it taken away right at the end added to the feeling of loss almost on the day. It was definitely a case of two points dropped for Arsenal.
"It wasn't like last year at Craven Cottage where they were really, really poor. They didn't have much of the game and Fulham absolutely deserved that win. It was the completel opposite this time. Fulham had two shots in the whole game. Arsenal had all of the ball, all of the territory, all of the possession. They just couldn't take advantage of it.
"They couldn't do enough in that final third despite having the ball, so much of the ball. And that was a real feeling of disappointment afterwards. They knew they should have won that game. They dominated it. They should have won it and they couldn't get themselves over. Two really costly points dropped."
Prior to Arsenal and Fulham's derby draw, leaders Liverpool saw their Merseyside derby with Everton postponed as a consequence of Storm Darragh, giving Arsenal the opportunity to move to within four points of Slot's side with victory at Craven Cottage.
While a draw did close the gap to six points, Arsenal will be nine behind the Reds again if Liverpool win their eventual game in hand, and they have also dropped two points below Chelsea thanks to the Blues' exhilarating 4-3 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Sunday's finale.
Arsenal's five draws this season is the most of any team inside the top six, but even though every stalemate "feels like a defeat", Watts is refusing to throw in the towel in the title fight, saying: "I think they're still in it, but every single drop point is just like a dagger at the moment because of that gap that Liverpool have got and the form Liverpool are showing.
'Every draw makes the mountain taller for Arsenal'
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"I really felt like if Arsenal could win every game between the last international break and the New Year, that the gap would be down to four or five points. And yes, it's down to six now, but obviously Liverpool have got that game in hand that no one was expecting.
"So they are still in it, but they just can't afford many days like that and that's the problem that they've got now. On the face of it, a 1-1 draw at Fulham, who were sixth going into the game and had a really good season, it's not the worst result in the world. But when you're nine points behind Liverpool, it is.
"You've just got to win and keep winning because every single dropped point feels like a defeat. Every draw feels like a defeat and that's the situation Arsenal find themselves in because of the form Liverpool have shown and because of some of the games that have gone against Arsenal so far this season. They are in it, but every single drop point makes the mountain that little bit taller."
Watts continued: "You knew what was on the table for Arsenal going into that game and winning the gap was down to four points. And even with the game in hand, scoreboard pressure can do strange things to people if you can close that gap. Even with games in hand, that that could just put a little bit of extra pressure onto Liverpool and maybe not play as freely as they have been playing.
"That definitely added to the sense of disappointment afterwards. I think Mikel made that pretty clear when he spoke in the press conference as well. You know, they knew they knew they'd missed a big opportunity at weekend and that that was disappointing."
Are Arsenal too reliant on set-pieces?
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Saliba's leveller and Saka's late winner being disallowed means that Arsenal have now scored each of their last four Premier League goals from dead-ball situations, having struck twice from corners against Manchester United after Martin Odegaard's closing penalty in the win over West Ham United.
For all of the Gunners' set-piece excellence, their lack of output from open play has been criticised, as their average Expected Goals (xG) per game from open play in the current Premier League season is 1.06, significantly lower than Manchester City's 1.49, Liverpool's 1.6 and Chelsea's 1.77.
However, Watts does not feel that the statistics tell the full story, as the Gunners have looked capable of scoring without Nicolas Jover taking up his customary corner position on the edge of the technical area, adding: "I look at the last couple of games and they've missed some big chances from open play as well. Manchester United, they should have scored in open play, they didn't, they missed some chances there.
"Even against Fulham, which was a little bit different. They didn't create massive amounts, but they still had chances in open play that they didn't take. It's a debate that's just going to continue until Arsenal do start scoring from open play. I think they will. It was only a couple of weeks ago we saw them ripping through West Ham in open play and ripping through Sporting in open play. I think it's just the fact that these games have come back to back where the goals have only come from set pieces where it's an absolute talking point.
"I wouldn't be at all surprised if they go play Everton on Saturday and play some really nice stuff and score some lovely goals in open play. As I said, they are still the third top scorers in the Premier League this season, so I don't think goals are an absolute issue. They will score, or they do score, but it would be nice to maybe get a couple more."
Arsenal will endeavour to make more of their open-play sequences count when they take on Monaco in Tuesday's Champions League showdown, before hosting Everton at the Emirates at 3pm on Saturday.
Ben Knapton
