Jamie Carragher names three players who are stopping Arsenal from winning the Premier League

Arsenal's title aspirations took a hit on Saturday and Jamie Carragher has named three key players who are hindering the Gunners' chase of runaway leaders Liverpool. The weekend felt like a crucial moment in the title race for some.

Arne Slot's side managed to overcome Brentford thanks to two late goals from Darwin Nunez, while the Gunners' attempt to respond with their own victory fell short. Arsenal went 2-0 up early into the second half against Aston Villa, but Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins salvaged a draw for the visitors.

Despite the result being largely due to the North Londoners' defensive lapses, Carragher believes Mikel Arteta's attacking options could be the deciding factor. With Bukayo Saka already sidelined with a hamstring injury and Gabriel Jesus ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL issue, the former Liverpool defender is sceptical about the remaining forwards' capabilities.

On Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, as quoted by the Mirror, Carragher was joined by Emmanuel Petit. The Frenchman was part of the Arsenal side that famously overtook Manchester United to win the Premier League in 1997/98.

Dismissing any possibility of a similar outcome, Carragher said: "I'll give you three reasons [why Arsenal can't win the league]. They had [Marc] Overmars, [Nicolas] Anelka and Dennis Bergkamp. This team, at the moment, is playing with [Gabriel] Martinelli, [Leandro] Trossard and [Kai] Havertz, it's not enough."

Martinelli and Havertz both found the net on Saturday, with the latter having a goal chalked off for handball. Despite this, the trio highlighted by Carragher have only managed to notch up 18 goals between them in the Premier League so far this season.

The question now is whether Arsenal need to bolster their frontline before the January transfer window slams shut. Following his team's recent stumble, Arteta shared his thoughts on losing more ground to Liverpool.

"I mean, the subs made the impact and they [Liverpool] managed to change the game," he told reporters. "And on our side, it was the opposite even though after conceding the two goals very close to each other, the danger was because I knew half the team was, that we could go downhill because we were physically drained.

"Suddenly, the team found another gear to go again and just put Aston Villa in their box and go and go again, trying to find the goal that we haven't been able to score at the end."

There's little time for the Gunners to dwell on the result, as they're back in Champions League action on Wednesday. A home clash against Dinamo Zagreb awaits at the Emirates Stadium, where a victory would edge them closer to securing a spot in the top eight of the league phase.

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