Mikel Arteta hints at why Liverpool has struggled to defend Premier League title

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has discussed Liverpool's difficult season despite the club's huge summer spending, explaining the fine margins required to win titles

Mikel Arteta has spoken about Liverpool's poor form this season(Image: Getty Images)

Mikel Arteta has expressed empathy for Arne Slot and Liverpool, who are currently struggling despite their massive summer spending spree, maintaining that almost everything must align "perfectly" to secure a Premier League title.

The Reds would have ideally been heading to London with the prospect of boosting their own title hopes. But instead, a win will merely reduce the deficit between them and Arsenal, who is interested in signing Marc Guehi, to 11 points.

Arteta was effusive in his praise for Liverpool and Slot, which is perhaps not surprising given the burgeoning rivalry between the two clubs. "Well, the margins I think for all of us are really small, we always talk about that," Arteta said.

"They have a great manager, they have a sensational structure. Understanding what they have to do in relation to the players that they select on the line, and they can play in different ways.

"Because at the end, those will make them a little bit different and more specific to what we can expect tomorrow, and we have to be conscious of that and then focus on what we have to do."

The Reds are the reigning Premier League champions. But, despite Liverpool splashing out more than $500 million on new signings during the summer transfer window, Slot has struggled to elevate the team's overall performance, leading to a slump.

Arne Slot will try to stop Arsenal from winning(Image: Getty Images)

The Gunners, meanwhile, are first in the Premier League table and will go eight points clear with a win against Liverpool on Thursday. When asked how surprised he was by Liverpool's position after the club's summer spend, Arteta replied: "I don’t know.

"But I think the previous year they didn’t spend much, and they managed to win the Premier League. That’s football, and that’s the reality of that.

"At the end, you need a lot of things to go your way to be champions, and almost everything has to be perfect.

"The moment you have issues around the squad or with players injured or whatever it is, then it is not that perfect. We all have gone through those stages, and we go through those stages throughout the season, and we have to navigate through that."

However, when questioned about whether Liverpool's campaign demonstrated that substantial financial outlay doesn't automatically guarantee continued success, Arteta hinted the evidence base might be insufficient at present, suggesting that over time, expenditure will drive positive results.

"Well, there are a lot of stories - especially when you talk about the level of wages that you spend on the squad and the level of players that you have,” he said.

"Over a certain period of time, you are going to be very successful. That’s the history of the Premier League.

"It is not something that I am saying that has happened time after time in this league over the years."