Arsenal's dramatic title race boost as Mikel Arteta favourite deals Liverpool huge blow

Arsenal have a great opportunity to close the gap on Liverpool in the Premier League title race when they face Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon. The Gunners have already dropped points this season while Liverpool, prior to visiting Selhurst Park, had won every game.

Arne Slot's side were far from convincing in a number of those victories though, with late goals needed to beat Bournemouth, Burnley and Newcastle in the Premier League. The decisive goal in their 1-0 win over the Gunners also arrived with seven of minutes of normal time to play.

Arsenal have also dropped points to Manchester City following that with Gabriel Martinelli snatching a point for his side from that clash at Emirates Stadium.

Prior to gameweek 6 kicking off, Liverpool were five points clear of Arsenal and could have further extended that gap with a positive result away to Palace. Maintaining their winning start began in the worst possible way when Ismalia Sarr poked home the loose ball from a corner after just nine minutes.

The Eagles missed good chances to go further ahead and their profligacy in front of goal looked set to cost them when Federico Chiesa fired in an equaliser just before stoppage time began.

Another last-gasp Liverpool goal to steal all three points soon looked likely but it was instead Palace that scored. Marc Guehi kept an attack alive with a headed flick-on in the Liverpool box, which fell to Eddie Nketiah with the former Arsenal striker bringing the ball under control and slotting past Alisson.

The 26-year-old endured a challenging first season at Palace with just seven goals scored and injury preventing from playing regularly. However, that will all be forgotten courtesy of that moment with it very likely those affiliated with his old club are also overjoyed.

Mikel Arteta handed Nketiah a number of opportunities and though he was unable to consistently provide, it is likely that the Gunners boss remains a big fan of him.

“I’m really happy for him, an academy player, to experience in the Premier League a hat-trick,” Arteta admitted back in October 2023 after he scored three times against Sheffield United.

“He needs to enjoy the moment. He fully deserves it and hopefully there are many more to come. He’s got an eye for goal. You look at his stats from the last 10 years. What he’s done is remarkable. He needs minutes, opportunities and service. If he gets that, Eddie is going to score goals, that’s for sure.

“He’s a great player for Arsenal. He can be better, yes. And the best thing is the talent that he’s got, but especially his mentality is incredible. When he has that mentality with that talent, he’s going to get much better.”

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