Arsenal injuries: Gary Neville reveals why he has no sympathy for Gunners amid fitness crisis | Football News

Gary Neville says Arsenal only have themselves to blame over their current shortage of attacking options.

Kai Havertz joined Arsenal’s lengthy list of absentees last week, with the Germany forward ruled out for the rest of the season after requiring surgery to repair the hamstring injury he suffered during the training camp in Dubai.

The injury means the Gunners are now without a recognised striker after Gabriel Jesus ruptured his ACL last month and leaves Mikel Arteta with a host of senior players in the treatment room.

As well as Havertz and Jesus, Arsenal are missing Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, leaving Arteta with Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri as his only fit forwards after the Gunners chose not add to their forward options in the January transfer window.

In an experiment that worked for Arteta, Mikel Merino came off the bench as a makeshift forward to net a quickfire double off the bench to guide Arsenal to a 2-0 win against Leicester on Saturday, but Neville thinks the decision not to sign a forward could eventually come back to hurt them.

“They are going to have to come up with something,” Neville said.

“I’ve got very little sympathy for Arsenal. They knew at the start of the season they were short at centre-forward. They knew they might be in a position where they didn’t have the quality up top.

“They have also had two title races so they know what it’s like. This is not an inexperienced team or manager. Could this have been foreseen? Yes. They couldn’t get any business done.

“I thought it might be Declan Rice moving forwards and it’s ended up being Mikel Merino.

“Sometimes good can come out of what seems to be bad. You can develop something together.

“It’s going to be tough for Arsenal. They have to find a way, no excuses. They can’t feel sorry for themselves and I’m sure Mikel Arteta won’t.”

Glimmer of hope for Arsenal in title race?

Meanwhile, Neville believes Liverpool’s 2-1 win against Wolves is a glimmer of hope for Arsenal in the title race.

Liverpool restored their seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Wolves at Anfield but it was far from a comfortable afternoon for Arne Slot’s league leaders as Matheus Cunha’s goal made for a nervy finale.

However, Liverpool held and now prepare for a crucial week, with games against Aston Villa and Manchester City, both away from home.

“I think it was a good day for Liverpool,” Neville told The Gary Neville Podcast. “I even think it was half a good day for Arsenal, with Liverpool, who just got over the line against a Wolves team I thought was fantastic, having Aston Villa away and Man City away coming up.

“Sometimes you get a game like that when you are going for a title at home, when people think you are going to turn up and win easy. You are 2-0 up and you think you are going to go on and score three or four, but it turns out to be a difficult afternoon.

“We’ve all had these types of games and that is why it is a good result for Liverpool.

“But that is why Arsenal will look at it and think it was a tight game and a slender victory, which will give them some hope.”

“This next week is big,” he added. “The two games Liverpool have coming up against Aston Villa and Man City.

“Villa aren’t in the best of form but Villa Park is a ground where you can get caught out.

“Man City is another place where you can absolutely get caught out. They have the players that can 100 per cent score two or three goals against you.

“If Liverpool can get four points out of the next two games, they will be in a really good position to go and win the league because Arsenal are going to drop points as well.

“If they can get through this week then the pressure turns to Arsenal because they have games against Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Chelsea. There’s a good chance they could drop points in that run.

“If the gap can stay at seven points through this difficult period, that will be about par.”