Match of the Day pundit disagrees with Gary Neville on unpopular Arsenal verdict

Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock believes if they had the same injury struggles as Arsenal, they'd suffer in the Premier League.

Arne Slot's side have survived any real injury crisis this season as they have stolen the march in the title race with yesterday's 2-0 win over Newcastle United extending their lead to 13 points. Arsenal, however, failed to find the back of the net for a second successive outing as they were forced to settle for a point against Nottingham Forest.

Mikel Arteta's side continue to be ravaged by injuries with Mikel Merino deputising as a striker after his match-winning double against Leicester City. Warnock believes Arsenal have been hit heavily and if Liverpool suffered similar ill-fate, their campaign would not be so straightforward.

He said speaking on Match of the Day: "They (injuries) really are (telling). When you've got Havertz, nine goals, Martinelli six (goals), Saka five (absent). If Liverpool lost Salah, Jota, Diaz and Gakpo they wouldn't be in the position they are in. So what we see tonight against Nottingham Forest is Merino has been asked to play that high position, he doesn't want to.

"He wants to wander, be involved, Nwaneri comes inside but look at the numbers across that side of the pitch, very heavy. Where's your focal point? Declan Rice is the player in the box looking for that, you've got to have someone to bounce it off.

"Where's the movement in the box? You've got four players in the area, all static, it's really static from Arsenal. When they do get crosses in and they're cleared, they are vulnerable to the counter-attack. Arsenal dominated the ball but they are vulnerable on the counter-attack.

"This was towards the end of the game, Raheem Sterling come on as a sub, you've got to spin into that channel, give them an option. Declan Rice is now looking, the run becomes too late and he runs himself down a blind alley, you see the response from him, 'where's the run? Where's my help?' There's nothing there.

"It's understandable, it's tough for Arsenal because they have lost these players but there's got to be a desire in the box. They've been hit heavily Arsenal and it's understandable that it's back-to-back games that they haven't scored now."

The assertion from Warnock would disagree with former Manchester United defender Gary Neville. The 50-year-old has been critical of Arsenal for the failure to counteract the problems that they faced during the transfer windows.

Neville claimed he has little sympathy for Arsenal falling behind in the title race after failing in the title racer twice previously. He said: "They've left themselves woefully short and where I have little sympathy for them is that they've had two title races already. This is a team that’s hardened to title races, they’ve been through the mill.

"They knew that when they lost [William] Saliba that first season, that they needed to correct that and buy centre-backs and buy defenders. It's almost as if they're always one step behind and my view is that they are getting what they deserve at this moment in time."