Mikel Arteta has admitted that Arsenal will be "nowhere near" winning the Premier League title if they play like they did in their defeat to Fulham.
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Arteta makes title race admissionArsenal lose 2-1 to FulhamGunners could slip five points behind LiverpoolWHAT HAPPENED?
Despite taking an early lead at Craven Cottage through Bukayo Saka, Arsenal lost 2-1 to Fulham on New Year's Eve to record their second defeat in three days. The Gunners put in an underwhelming performance, one that forced manager Arteta to make an admission about the Premier League title race.
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Arteta gave a frank interview with BBC Sport after the match, and said: "Really tough day. A sad day. Three days ago [2-0 defeat by West Ham] we played a game we lost that we completely meant to win it, today was our worst game of the season. The pace, the purpose we have in attack, defensively we were second best, we could not dominate and had issues because of that.
"We didn't do enough with that [possession] – not enough purpose speed or threat. We were sloppy with the ball. It wasn't good enough. We didn't deserve to win. When you have opportunities to go top of the league on 31 December and now end up with a really bad feeling – that is football. The lines are really thin.
"If we play like we played in the other 19 games we will be up there [in the league at the end of the season]. If we play like today we will be nowhere near. Today was a really difficult day to swallow."
(C)Getty imagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Back-to-back defeats since Christmas Day have seen Arsenal drop from top of the table to fourth, just one point ahead of north London rivals Tottenham. Arteta's side will fall five points behind league leaders Liverpool if Jurgen Klopp's side beat Newcastle on New Year's Day.
DID YOU KNOW?
In each of the previous six seasons that Arsenal have topped the Premier League table on Christmas Day, they have failed to go on and win the title.