There are 48 points still up for grabs in a title race that could yet go the distance, but as the final whistle blew at Emirates Stadium a sense of foreboding hung in the air; a sense that, come May, we will look back on this day as one of the season’s most significant.
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Earlier on Saturday at the Gtech Community Stadium, when it was 0-0 with stoppage time looming, anxiety was clinging tight to the Liverpool shirts, with their third consecutive draw on the cards.
That was until Arne Slot’s side showed they have what it takes to shake off pressure, ignore the noise, and win like champions as Darwin Nunez scored twice.
It was a headline story in its own right. But Nunez's late brace has become all the more poignant now.
Arsenal conspired to let a two-goal lead slip at the Emirates, falling a further two points behind Liverpool in the title race.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
21 | +30 | 50 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
22 | +22 | 44 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
21 | +10 | 41 |
| 4 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
22 | +12 | 38 |
In the grand scheme of things, a draw at home to Aston Villa is far from disastrous and a victory at Brentford par for the course.
But that just isn’t how it feels, and psychology matters.
The title-race stories we tell have an impact on players, managers, and fans - and today’s was clear.
One team seized the moment, the other let theirs slip.
Arsenal’s unprecedented result is nevertheless a case of deja vu
What will hurt Mikel Arteta most of all, perhaps, is that this simply does not happen.
Fairly or not, Arsenal have been accused of throwing away advantageous positions in the past, yet a two-goal lead at the Emirates is almost always a done deal.
This was the first time since October 2019 that Arsenal failed to win a Premier League home match in which they were two goals up, winning their previous 46 in a row.
Meanwhile, for the first time since November 2013, Villa avoided defeat in a Premier League away match in which they had trailed by two goals, having lost their previous 52 matches in that situation.
Forty-six wins, 52 defeats. It was unprecedented, and yet it still gave Arsenal supporters deja vu, with Villa again haunting them in a title race.
They have now dropped 12 points from winning positions in 2024/25, their most in five seasons.
A 2-0 defeat at home to Villa in April - Arsenal’s solitary league defeat in their final 18 matches of last season - is often cited as the result that cost Arteta’s side the title.
Four months from now, the two points dropped today could be looked back upon with the same regret, the same frustration.
Defensive injuries explain collapse after early Martinelli-Trossard show
And to think Arsenal had looked so comfortable.
An hour on the clock, Arsenal’s 2-0 lead was defined by clinical finishing; by open-play goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz that looked like an emphatic rejection of the criticism Arteta’s side are too reliant on set-pieces.
Martinelli excelled from the right, popping up as a second striker in the penalty area to score the opening goal, while Leandro Trossard’s two assists reaffirmed his creative value during Bukayo Saka’s absence.
But by full-time, after Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins had both converted headers from simple crosses, it was clear that defensive injuries had taken their toll.
Thomas Partey at right-back and Jurrien Timber at centre-back made for a makeshift defence, and it showed: nobody got close to Tielemans for the first Villa goal, before Watkins evaded Partey for the equaliser.
It could be 'too late' for Arsenal, as Liverpool ramp up again
What followed was a desperate late rally, with a Mikel Merino shot that hit the post and a Havertz goal overturned for handball being the standout agonising moments.
But they only added to the fatalistic feel at the final whistle, to the sense of something slipping away, just as Liverpool - so emphatic in their own late surges - accelerated again, seizing the narrative.
“Darwin will score his goals,” was Slot’s assertion in his pre-match press conference. He duly did, and the headlines were easy to write.
And here, too, is a point of comparison favourable to Liverpool and frustrating to the Arsenal faithful.
While Liverpool have an abundance of attacking talent to bring off the bench - spare No 9s, even - the Gunners only had Raheem Sterling, still goalless in the Premier League this season.
“[Liverpool] managed to do that, they made the subs, they made the impact and managed to change the game,” Arteta said after the match. “In our side it was the opposite.”
Unsurprisingly, Arsenal’s need for more firepower was once again the pundits’ main takeaway.
“The underlying factor is the manager needs help,” said club legend Ian Wright after the game. “You look at the benches, you look at who they’re able to bring on. It just looks like he needs help now.
“We have to buy some players. We have to.”
Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Tim Sherwood went further, and said what many Arsenal fans may be beginning to contemplate this evening.
“I said at the beginning of the match they could lose only two more games. Now they can only lose one more and they got to play Liverpool as well. It’s over.”
It isn’t, not yet. The gap is only six points, albeit with Liverpool having a match in hand.
But Sherwood captured the inescapable feeling that descended on the Emirates on Saturday evening, and captured the dark mood that follows a day of such obvious divergence in the title race.
Liverpool threw down the gauntlet. Arsenal did not pick it up.
