Arsenal are warned they must ‘reel off five or six wins’ in a row to keep their Premier League title hopes alive – as Paul Merson claims Gunners’ confidence is ‘low’

Arsenal must string together a run of as many as six wins in a row to keep their slender Premier League title hopes alive, according to Paul Merson.

Mikel Arteta’s side are nine points adrift of leaders Liverpool after drawing 1-1 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and are without a win in their last four top-flight games.

Gabriel Martinelli’s second-half strike looked set to close the gap on the summit but Pedro Neto equalised just 10 minutes later to force a share of the spoils. 

Arteta admitted his mounting injury crisis – which saw Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice limp off – may be hurting Arsenal’s consistency, a sentiment Merson agrees with. 

But the pundit also believes there is no longer room for error.

Pedro Neto’s second-half strike forced the Gunners to settle for a 1-1 draw against Chelsea

‘It’s hard. Arsenal have a bullseye on their back, they are a big team,’ Merson said on Sky Sports. ‘Everybody wants to beat them. Confidence is a bit low at moment. I didn’t think it was free flowing today. I thought it was a bit stop-start.

‘When your confidence goes, not everybody wants the ball. 

‘When you watch Arsenal in full flow, everybody’s moving. Today, [Thomas] Partey gets it or Rice gets it or [Martin] Odegaard and there’s not a lot of options. 

‘You see from the goal when Odegaard nicks the ball. It’s only because of his intelligence and his vision. There was only one pass on and that was out wide. 

‘He’s a clever footballer. He’s only good for Arsenal. 

‘They’ve got to get on a run. They can reel off five or six wins. They’ll have to do that.’

Arteta has rued a ‘nightmare’ eight-week period that has seen Arsenal slump down the top-flight table and pick up a string of injuries to first-team regulars.

‘In perspective, we had a clear intention of how we evolve the team and that is about making pieces in the car more efficient, and better, more unpredictable,’ he said.

Paul Merson believes Arsenal may also be short of confidence as injuries mount up

Gabriel Martinelli opened the scoring with a neat near-post finish at Stamford Bridge

But Mikel Arteta’s side are now winless in four in the top-flight and nine points behind top spot

‘But every day have to change something big, engine, tyres, steering wheel, problem after problem. This team has courage and we are very proud of them. 

‘Now we need to get everyone physically at their best.’

The extent of Saka and Rice’s setbacks are not yet clear, potentially raising questions over their availability for England during the upcoming international break.