Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes it is time for FA Cup replays to be scrapped.

The Spaniard was speaking ahead of his side’s crunch third-round tie against Premier League leaders Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.

Following Sunday’s match, the Gunners – who have slipped five points behind Jurgen Klopp’s side in the race for the title – are set to be out of action for 13 days.

But a draw at the Emirates would force the two sides to meet at Anfield during what would be a rare and crucial near-fortnight off for Arsenal in their challenge on both domestic and European fronts.

When asked if the Football Association should consider pulling the plug on replays, Arteta, whose side will also contest a rejigged Champions League next season if they finish in the top four, said: “I think so.

“We will see what happens because with the new format of the Champions League, there will be more games (to play) so I don’t know how we are going to fit them in.

“The (mini) break will be minimal and we have plans for both scenarios. We want to win the game and we will try to win the game, but that (cancelling replays) has to be considered.”

With just one win from their last five outings, Arsenal will head into Sunday’s mouth-watering fixture against in-form Liverpool as marginal underdogs.

In contrast to Arsenal’s drab defeat against Fulham, Liverpool fired four past Newcastle on New Year’s Day to allow them to take top spot in the league.

Arsenal’s free-scoring form of last season has dried up following just four goals in their previous five league outings – with half of those coming in a 2-0 home win against Brighton.

None of Arsenal’s frontline have managed to break into double figures for the season so far with Bukayo Saka leading the way on nine.

“What they (the forwards) did last year was exceptional and we knew that to maintain those numbers would be extremely difficult because it was a one-off,” added Arteta.

“Not just for us, a one-off in the league. We know that we need all the resources and all those kinds of goals to maintain the level that we want in the league.

“When it comes to those spaces, the timing and the definition of the action (in front of goal) that becomes trickier to coach and certainly to replicate as an action in the game.

“It’s very tricky but it’s something that we have to improve, especially in the way we have not transformed recent chances into goals.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits he cannot afford to take too many risks with his team selection for the FA Cup third round tie at Arsenal.

Even though his side are already just two matches away from Wembley with a Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg at home to Fulham on Wednesday the Reds boss said he could not make huge changes against the Gunners.

Three will be enforced with forward Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo at the African Nations Cup and Asian Cup respectively while fellow midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has been ruled out for at least two matches with a hamstring problem.

The return of Alexis Mac Allister, out for a month with a knee injury, and Ryan Gravenberch are likely to fill the gaps in the middle of the pitch but the troublesome spot is Salah’s right-wing berth.

Harvey Elliott played there in the League Cup quarter-final with West Ham and the 19-year-old Kaide Gordon did the job in the Europa League defeat to Union Saint Gilloise but it seems unlikely the teenager will be pitched straight in at the Emirates.

“If you bring a boy who didn’t play for five or six weeks, it’s very rare he can play to his best. That’s why so far I think we did that quite well,” said Klopp of his rotation policy this season.

“But actually I am not sure if Arsenal is now a game to rotate. I don’t know 100 percent if we have the opportunity to do so to be honest.

“We have players available and we can line a good team up. If that looks then afterwards like rotation, I don’t know yet.

“We’ve had six days between the games (since Newcastle on New Year’s Day) and there’s no need for rotation.

“You can say, ‘OK, three days later we have another game’. Yes, that’s true, but we can think about that when the other game is over. That’s what we do usually.

“And both have the same importance, there is nothing in between. We want to win these games, we want to go to the final but we want to go to the next round as well but it is probably the most tricky draw you can get.”

Liverpool recalled Owen Beck, nephew of all-time top goalscorer Ian Rush, from a loan spell at Dundee as both left-backs Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas are injured, although the former is expected to be back by the end of the month.

The 21-year-old cannot feature against Arsenal due to an existing Scottish League Cup ban but should help to give Joe Gomez, standing in at left-back a break, with Klopp saying: “In Dundee he made big steps, and now the situation here is clear: we lose two of our left-backs so we think it makes sense if a boy we like is available for us.”

While December was busy Liverpool could have seven matches this month if they progress on Sunday.

And the nightmare scenario would be a draw which forces a replay and interrupts what should be the weekend of their scheduled Premier League break.

“I think a rematch against Arsenal would really not be helpful because it just doesn’t fit in, would kill the winter break,” added Klopp.

“We have the most busy month you can imagine in December and then some teams obviously don’t play that often in January. We don’t have that.

“For us it is a normal month: busy but not crazy busy like December where there were five games in 13 days. That just makes no sense, but that’s how it is.

“I think rhythm helps but in the end we will see that.”

Mikel Arteta admitted back-to-back defeats have halted Arsenal’s Premier League momentum but warned against putting his side’s rocky run under the microscope.

Arsenal’s title challenge has faltered in recent matches following a home loss to West Ham on December 28 before they suffered another defeat at Fulham three days later.

The Gunners have slipped to fourth in the table, five points behind leaders Liverpool who they host in the third round of the FA Cup at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

“We were not at the level (against Fulham) and we were not good enough,” said Arteta. “I don’t think we deserved to lose but we didn’t do enough to win it.

“It affects momentum that we had. Until Christmas Day we were top of the league and six days later we are fourth.

“You can be very tempted to look at things with a microscope or take the telescope and look a little bit further ahead and treat things with a little bit more perspective.

“And my job, big time, is to look with the telescope, have perspective, analyse things in a broader way and not get affected by one performance; not results, just one performance.”

Arsenal had 30 attempts on goal in their defeat to West Ham – but it was a different story at Craven Cottage as Arteta’s side failed to create chances.

The club continue to be linked with a new striker, although Brentford manager Thomas Frank said only an “unbelievable” offer would force the Bees to sell Ivan Toney during this month’s transfer window.

“We are open to the transfer market,” added Arteta. “But the emphasis is on making the most of the players we have.

“We will work with the club and see if we have any good options but first, our focus is on the players here.”

Put to Arteta that Arsenal might not sign anyone before the window closes, he replied: “That’s a possibility.”

Arteta is likely to rotate his squad for the visit of Liverpool, with defender Oleksandr Zinchenko possibly back in the frame after missing the defeat against Fulham. Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale is also set to be handed a rare start in place of David Raya.

And Arteta has challenged the Arsenal supporters to create a difficult environment for Jurgen Klopp’s visiting side.

“There is a big history between the FA Cup and the club and we have a big opportunity (against Liverpool) to start again and make a beautiful journey,” said the Gunners boss.

“We are really happy with the atmosphere that we have created at the Emirates Stadium and on Sunday can we make it even more hostile? I think we can.

“We have to be so grateful for what we are achieving in our home ground and Sunday is going to be a big one again.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted he would be happy for Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo’s international absences to be kept to a minimum as his side begin their fight on three fronts in January.

Salah is away with Egypt in the African Nations Cup, while Japan captain Endo is at the Asian Cup and both players are expected to go deep into the respective competitions.

That could mean a return in the second week of February but Klopp said he sent them on their way this week without wishing them too much success.

“I said if I wish you good luck it would be a lie,” he said ahead of the FA Cup tie at Arsenal.

“From a personal point of view, I would be happy if they go out in the group stage but that’s probably not possible. They can go on and win it.

“So it was ‘good luck and come back healthy’. We have to deal with it and we will deal with it. I am pretty positive that we will find a way.”

It is impossible to have a like-for-like replacement for Salah as he is one of a kind but Klopp does not really have a suitable player in the right-winger mould to take his place.

Midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai was touted as a potential option but he has been ruled out for at least two matches with a hamstring injury sustained in the New Year’s Day win over Newcastle.

“I can confirm it’s not a potential injury – it is an injury. Muscle, hamstring. But now we have to see,” added Klopp.

“Dom is very positive, doesn’t have a lot of pain but we have to wait a little bit. So, no chance obviously for Sunday, not for Wednesday (the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at home to Fulham).

“And then we will see. After that, hopefully he might be back but we don’t know.”

Nevertheless Klopp was confident Liverpool could fill the hole left by Salah, even if he could not hope to replicate the Egypt international’s goal involvement.

“I think we played against West Ham (in last month’s Carabao Cup quarter-final) without Mo on that side and Harvey Elliott played there,” he said.

“We have different offensive options who can all play that wing in a different way.

“Nobody else can play like Mo, it is not possible – we just have to use the boys with their skills.

“Do we want to play without Mo? No. In the past we didn’t have to do it often but we always found a way.

“But we play Arsenal and you can lose to Arsenal with Mo Salah so it’s possible to lose to them without him.”

Mikel Arteta lamented a “painful and sad” day as Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge suffered another setback with defeat at Fulham.

The Gunners now sit fourth in the table after a 2-1 loss at Craven Cottage only added to a home defeat to West Ham on Thursday.

Bukayo Saka had given the visitors the lead in west London, only for Raul Jimenez and Bobby Decordova-Reid to turn the game around for the Cottagers.

Five games ago, Arsenal were six points clear of champions Manchester City but are now level, having played one more game with Pep Guardiola’s side in World Club Cup action before Christmas.

Asked for his view on the game, Arteta said: “Painful and a sad day. That’s how I would sum it up.

“We had the chance to be top of the table after 20 games with the consistency that we’ve shown. We haven’t managed well enough to earn the right to win the game.

“Three days ago we lost a game that we deserved to win, today was a very different story.”

Arsenal had 30 attempts on goal as they slipped to a 2-0 loss to West Ham – but it was a different story here as Arteta’s side toiled to create chances on a wet and windy afternoon by the Thames.

“For sure,” the Spaniard replied when asked if the Fulham performance was more concerning than that against the Hammers.

“The other one, we didn’t put the ball in the net and they scored the way they did. It’s OK. Today the overall performance was more worrying.

“We weren’t good enough. We weren’t good enough in ball possession, we gave too many balls away. we didn’t have enough rhythm, enough threat.

“Defensively we were second best. We could not control the direct play. It was so easy for them to win that first and second ball and have the opportunity to run.

“Then we conceded two goals like we did against West Ham and when you do that in this league it’s going to be very difficult to win.”

Fulham head coach Marco Silva was left raising a glass to a good 2023 as his side returned to winning ways after a three-game losing streak in the league.

This was also the first time in over a year Fulham have come from behind to win in the Premier League and Silva was pleased with what he saw from his team.

“It really the best way to finish 2023, definitely,” he said.

“Our ambition was to finish on a high and react from the last two games. I really believe we deserve it. Over the 95 minutes we deserved it more.

“It was very good reaction after the first goal. The way we beat their pressure and began to play our way. We even had more chances to score a third goal.”

Fulham dug deep to stun Arsenal 2-1 at Craven Cottage to inflict a second successive Premier League defeat on Mikel Arteta’s men.

Bukayo Saka scored after just five minutes but the Cottagers rallied through Raul Jimenez and Bobby De Cordova-Reid to claim all three points and deny Arsenal the chance to climb to the top of the table.

The victory eased some pressure on Marco Silva, whose side ended a run of three straight defeats.

The Gunners landed the first blow when Kai Havertz drove forward from midfield and picked out Gabriel Martinelli. His shot was parried by Bernd Leno into the path of Saka who tapped home to make it 1-0.

Fulham had the chance to draw level after 14 minutes when Willian found the overlapping Antonee Robinson, who delivered a perfect cutback to Jimenez but the Mexican international’s shot was comfortably saved by David Raya.

Jimenez returned to the side after he served a three-game suspension after his sending off during Fulham’s 3-0 defeat at Newcastle and he looked eager to impress.

Willian’s quality shone through against his former side and after his deflected shot won a corner he produced a deft chip to partner Jimenez, who fired over.

And the home side’s persistence paid off with the equaliser in the 29th minute.

Willian wreaked havoc down the left and played in captain Tom Cairney, whose whipped cross found Jimenez and he produced a neat first-time finish to claim his fifth goal of the season.

The Cottagers completed the turnaround after 59 minutes as Willian sent a corner deep into the box and after Joao Palhinha’s header deflected off Declan Rice the ball bobbled into the path of De Cordova-Reid, who poked home.

A well-worked move saw Saka sky a volley from six yards out as it started to appear it was not going to be Arsenal’s day.

Jimenez beat William Saliba to a loose ball before he found Cairney but his long-range strike was magnificently stopped by Raya.

The Cottagers almost extended their advantage in the 88th minute when Takehiro Tomiyasu cynically fouled Harry Wilson and was fortunate to only be shown a yellow card by referee Josh Smith.

Andreas Pereira then saw his dipped effort rebound off Raya’s crossbar before the hosts successfully defended a barrage of Arsenal corners during five added minutes to claim the win.

Jarrod Bowen praised a shift in West Ham’s mindset as they won at Arsenal in the Premier League for the first time since 2015.

The Hammers secured a 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium to go four points behind the top four and prevent their hosts moving back to the top of the table.

Bowen capitalised on rocky Arsenal defending to cross for Tomas Soucek to open the scoring, the goal standing after a lengthy VAR check could not conclude if the ball had gone out of play before the England international’s centre.

Former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos then headed in his first West Ham goal to seal the three points – with David Moyes’ side now having beaten Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal this month.

While those victories have been tinged with setbacks – a 5-0 league thrashing at Fulham and a meek Carabao Cup exit at Liverpool – Bowen feels building on Saturday’s win over United with another three points against a title challenger shows progress.

“It’s a massive win,” Bowen told the club’s official website.

“We knew it was going to be difficult as these are top side, but we managed to build on what we did against Manchester United.

“I think, for us, we haven’t been consistent enough. We might have won one game and then the Fulham game springs to mind when we conceded five, and if we want to be spoken about to go to the top six and finishing higher in the division then we need to be consistent.

“Like I say, this was a hard game, but I said after the Man United game that we needed to come here with a mindset to take points and we’ve done that.

“It’s those consistency levels…We play Brighton in a few days (Tuesday) and we have to go there and win that as well.”

Things could have been even better for West Ham had Said Benrahma’s stoppage-time penalty not been saved by David Raya – but for Arsenal it was a night to forget.

Mikel Arteta’s men had 30 attempts on goal but could not trouble the scorers as they failed to produce the win required to usurp Liverpool at the summit.

“I think we created more than enough to score goals to win the game,” said captain Martin Odegaard.

“It was the little details and the little last pass or the finish that was missing. We have to learn from it and make sure we get sharper and better in front of the goals.

“The goals we conceded were too easy, so definitely in front of the goals, inside the boxes, that’s where the games are decided. We weren’t good enough.”

What the papers say

Mohamed Salah remains a target for clubs in the Saudi Pro League but they will have to wait beyond January, according to the Daily Mirror. Liverpool are not expected to agree to a mid-season sale for the 31-year-old forward with bids expected to come in the summer.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is likely to concentrate on loan deals in January, reports the Daily Mirror. The club needs to offload players before making any signings with reinforcements on the cards after a string of injuries.

Steve Cooper has emerged as a potential option as manager at Crystal Palace after his sacking at Nottingham Forest, according to The Daily Telegraph. Roy Hodgson’s future in charge of the club is uncertain.

Crystal Palace are interested in Paris St Germain striker Hugo Ekitike, 21, reports the Evening Standard. Palace have also been linked with Sunderland’s 21-year-old French midfielder Pierre Ekwah.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Dan Gore: Borussia Dortmund are keen on Manchester United’s 19-year-old English winger, reports Football Insider.

Serhou Guirassy: Manchester United, Tottenham and AC Milan are interested in the Guinea striker, 27, who is preparing to leave Stuttgart in January, according to Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy.

Mikel Arteta admitted his side came up short in both boxes as Arsenal slumped to defeat to West Ham to miss out on regaining top spot in the Premier League.

The Gunners remain behind Liverpool as they lost 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on what Arteta conceded was one of the most frustrating nights of his four-year tenure as Arsenal boss.

Tomas Soucek’s opener – awarded after the VAR could not determine whether the whole ball had gone out of play in the build up – and a second-half header from former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos earned the visitors a deserved win.

Things could have been even better had Said Benrahma not had a stoppage-time penalty saved by David Raya on a night where Arteta applauded the performances of the opposition.

“I congratulate West Ham and praise my players. That’s what I can tell you,” he said.

“This is football. When you look at how much we generated in the game, to see the result is very disappointing. But they were better than us in both boxes. They had two shots, with the penalty three. We had 30.

“If we don’t score with 30 shots, then we have to do 50 or 60 to try to score. That’s the only thing. I can’t imagine a game where we have more touches in the box, more dominance and less situations for the opponent against a really good West Ham side. Today though, it wasn’t enough to win the game.”

Asked if it was among the most frustrating nights of his managerial career, Arteta replied: “It is. But it’s football. Normally when the team generates so much it’s going to win games.

“That’s the way we’ve done it. Against Brighton, we generated so much and against Liverpool as well, but we score goals in different ways.

“We have to make another step in that area to win games more comfortably, that’s for sure, because today the team deserves to win the game. There’s no question about that.”

Arteta successfully fought a Football Association charge after he criticised the officiating and VAR in defeat at Newcastle last month and was less vocal this time.

He did, however, suggest technology needs to be further advanced to make close calls, adding: “They’re saying it’s not conclusive. It’s a shame that with the technology that we have, that it’s not that clear so that we can say whether it’s out or in. It’s done. It’s gone. There’s nothing we can do about it now.

“If the technology we have at the moment is not good enough to give us that answer, what we have to do is without that win the game. With the number of situations we generated in the game, that should have been more than enough.”

For West Ham and manager David Moyes, this was a rare taste of victory at the Emirates Stadium – Moyes had failed to secure victory in his previous 72 Premier League away games at Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United.

West Ham were 17th at the turn of the year but went on to win the Europa Conference League and now sit just four points off the top four after this hard-fought and deserved win.

Moyes is out of contract in the summer but, on the four-year anniversary of his reappointment as West Ham boss, feels a new deal will soon be ironed out.

“We’re getting ready to talk,” he told Amazon Prime.

“I don’t think any of us are jumping to get it done too quickly, I think we are just happy to make sure we get it done. We will do, I don’t see any problems with that at all.

“We are not one of the top teams. We are trying to get up and grow the team. For West Ham to be in Europe is a great period.”

Arsenal missed the chance to return to the top of the Premier League as they slipped to a disappointing defeat to West Ham amid more VAR controversy.

The Gunners needed victory to replace Liverpool at the summit but lost 2-0 by the Hammers on a night where David Moyes finally landed a victory at the Emirates Stadium.

His West Ham side lost Kurt Zouma ahead of the game and Lucas Paqueta after just over half an hour but hit the front through Tomas Soucek’s strike, awarded after VAR could not determine whether the whole ball had gone out of play in the build-up.

A second-half header from former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos secured the points and things could have been even better for the visitors had Said Benrahma not seen a last-gasp penalty saved by David Raya.

Moyes had failed to secure victory in his previous 72 Premier League away games at Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United, so this was a long time coming for the Scot.

Arsenal laboured when they needed to continue their recent winning run in London derbies to go back to the top of the table.

Instead, only captain Martin Odegaard could hold his head high on a night where their defence creaked and Gabriel Jesus was guilty of missing a couple of very good chances.

Arsenal started well, with some great touches in and around the West Ham box from Odegaard in particular.

But at the other end their defending left a lot to be desired, as Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Magalhaes failed to deal with a simple ball into the middle.

Jarrod Bowen capitalised by latching onto the miscue and teed up Soucek to finish – the goal surviving a lengthy VAR check which could not ultimately make a call on if the ball had not gone out of play before Bowen’s cutback.

Arsenal looked to respond although the goal gave West Ham something to defend, although Jesus found a way in behind with a subtle flick into Bukayo Saka, whose header was brilliantly saved by Alphonse Areola.

Paqueta had been hurt in the warm-up and lasted just over half an hour, with his fellow Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli curling an effort just wide for Arsenal as they continued in vain to find a leveller.

The hosts were getting closer, West Ham gifting possession as two passes saw Arsenal in on goal once more, this time Saka hitting the base of the post from an acute angle.

Former West Ham captain Declan Rice fired just over from 25 yards but it was another player coming back to haunt his former club who would find the back of the net soon after.

Mavropanos made just seven league starts in three years as an Arsenal player but returned to the Premier League last summer with the Hammers and headed them two goals ahead before the hour.

Jesus then headed straight at Areola before sending another fine chance well over the bar moments after Arteta introduced Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson off the bench.

Areola was on hand again to keep out a Leandro Trossard effort, with Vladimir Coufal clearing a William Saliba header off the line from the resulting corner.

Rice had come off the bench during a 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat on his return to West Ham earlier in the season and endured another night to forget here as he conceded a late penalty for tripping Emerson Palmieri in the box – only for Raya to keep out substitute Benrahma’s tame spot-kick.

What the papers say

Newcastle United are confident of landing England midfielder Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City , reports the Daily Telegraph. Juventus, Everton and Crystal Palace are also interested in the 28-year-old.

Manager Mikel Arteta says Arsenal are prepared to bolster the squad in January after injuries left them “exposed”, according to The Guardian. Arteta said the club would “try to make the right calls”.

Raphael Varane, 30, is being chased by former club Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, according to the Daily Mirror via Spanish outlet Sport. The Manchester United defender can negotiate a summer move from January with his contract up at the end of the season.

Any moves by Manchester United in the January transfer window will need to be cleared by Ineos after the company’s deal to buy a 25% share of the club.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Matthijs de Ligt: Arsenal are unlikely to make a move for the Dutch defender, 24, from Bayern Munich but he remains on their radar, reports The Athletic.

Antonee Robinson: Liverpool are interested in Fulham’s US full-back, 26, for a potential January signing, says 90 Min.

Former Chelsea and Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech set a new Premier League record of 170 clean sheets on this day in 2015.

Cech moved ahead of David James’ previous best of 169 in the all-time list after Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium.

He said at the time: “It’s a great personal achievement and I felt really proud at the end of the game because if you look at the names in the clean-sheet numbers and you see all those fantastic goalkeepers who had been playing and are still playing in this league then obviously it is a great achievement to top the list.”

The former Czech Republic keeper went on to rack up 32 more clean sheets for the Gunners in the English top flight to extend his current record to 202.

Cech became the first goalkeeper to register 200 shutouts in Arsenal’s 3-0 home win against Watford in 2018 after saving Troy Deeney’s penalty.

Having racked up 162 Premier League clean sheets during his 11-year career with Chelsea, Cech went on to notch another 40 with Arsenal before retiring at the end of the 2018-19 season.

He brought down the curtain on a glittering career after Arsenal were thumped 4-1 in his final match by former club Chelsea in the Europa League final in Baku.

The former Rennes goalkeeper returned to Stamford Bridge as a technical director upon his retirement as former team-mate Frank Lampard took the helm as manager in west London.

Chelsea registered the then 38-year-old in their Premier League squad in 2020 as a precautionary move to help in any possible coronavirus-related availability crisis.

Cech, who made 124 appearances in total for the Czech Republic during a 14-year international career, signed for National Ice Hockey League Division Two side Guildford Phoenix in 2019.

The 41-year-old joined NIHL Division One side Oxford City Stars in the summer of 2023 after a spell with Chelmsford Chieftains and switched to Elite League side Belfast Giants on loan in November.

Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal are prepared to dip into the transfer market in January if his squad remains as “exposed” as in recent weeks.

The Gunners have fared better than some of their Premier League rivals in terms of injuries but are without five players for Thursday’s London derby at home to West Ham.

Thomas Partey, Jurrien Timber, Fabio Vieira and Takehiro Tomiyasu are all still sidelined while Kai Havertz is banned having collected five yellow cards.

Arsenal invested over £200million on new recruits in the summer, including the £105million club-record signing of Declan Rice from the Hammers.

The England midfielder was joined at the Emirates Stadium by Havertz and Timber as Arsenal spent big having missed out on the title despite being top for 248 days last season.

With Arteta unsure of return dates for his injured quartet and the festive fixture schedule testing any squad in the division – the Spaniard confirmed Arsenal do have plans should they feel the need to act in January.

“At the moment, it is very difficult. We are really short,” he said.

“We have positions that we have been very exposed for the last six weeks and hopefully we are going to get players back. In what condition and when?

“That’s a question mark and as well because we have some long-term injuries still for certain players that give us a lot of versatility and that’s an issue.

“We have certain targets, ideas if things happen. As well, we don’t know how the squad is going to look in two weeks’ time and you have to be always prepared for that.

“But it is a very, very tricky market that shifts very quickly and it is quite unpredictable as well – and you have to be prepared. We will be prepared and we will try to make the right calls.

“If there is something that we can (do to) improve the squad and that needs appear, and we cannot fulfil it with players here, we are always going to be open to do that because we want to be stronger.”

What the papers say

Dominic Solanke has emerged as a potential solution to Tottenham’s hunt for a striker. The Sun reports Spurs are watching the Bournemouth forward, 26, ahead of a summer signing.

Tottenham are also being linked with Belgium midfielder Arther Vermeeren, 18. According to The Sun, Spurs are willing to pay Royal Antwerp £25million in January with an agreement to loan him back for the rest of the season.

Jesse Lingard’s search for a new club has reached Lille, according to the Daily Mirror. But the 31-year-old former Manchester United midfielder, a free agent, could be restricted by a limit on French clubs signing players from outside the EU.

Manchester United are being linked with a move for Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee, reports the Metro via Sport1. The 22-year-old, who is valued at £26m million, has scored seven goals in 17 games for Serie A side Bologna.

Social media round-up Players to watch

Raphael Varane: The former France defender, 30, is keen on a return to his first club Lens, according to L’Equipe in France.

Goncalo Inacio: Arsenal lead the race for the Sporting defender, 22, but Liverpool are also interested, reports Portuguese outleft A Bola.

Arsenal defender Ben White has hailed the influence centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel are having on the Gunners’ season.

The form of the pair has helped Arsenal to the top of the table with the joint-best defensive record and although they did not manage to keep out Liverpool, with whom they share the record, the security they offered gave the visitors the confidence to take a positive approach in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Anfield.

A week ago a struggling Manchester United side left Liverpool with a point after a dour defensive display in which the home side had 34 attempts on goal.

By contrast Arsenal restricted Liverpool to 13, the same as they had themselves.

“They are unbelievable together. They are so strong and powerful. They make it easier for everyone around them,” White said of the centre-back pair.

“They just don’t do too much wrong, do they? They are so consistent every game.

“No one is dominating them speed-wise or strength-wise. It’s hard for strikers to come up against and find anything positive to come out of the game.”

Arsenal also benefited from their willingness to take the game to Liverpool, who had won 11 in a row at home before the United draw.

“I think when you come here it’s so, so tough and to come away with a point is probably a positive,” added White.

“That’s what we have got now, we are such a positive team. We wanted to come here and win, and I think you see that from our performance.”