Arteta marches out of interview after Liverpool question, as Keane tells Arsenal boss why title hopes vanished

Mikel Arteta refused to answer a question about the title race and Liverpool after Arsenal dropped points in their third Premier League match in a row.

Defeat to West Ham and a 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest left Arsenal with very little margin for error in the run-in. With Liverpool coming from behind to beat Southampton on Saturday, all eyes were on whether the Gunners could respond when travelling to Old Trafford 24 hours later.

Bruno Fernandes put Manchester United in front with a sublime free-kick on the stroke of half-time. Declan Rice equalised in the second half with an exquisite strike of his own, but neither side could find a winner, thus ensuring Arsenal could only cut the gap to Liverpool to 15 points.

Arsenal do have a game in hand over the Reds and still have Liverpool to play. Nonetheless, it looks increasingly certain the Premier League title will be heading to Anfield.

A visibly frustrated Arteta was interviewed by Sky Sports’ Patrick Davison post-match. Following questions about injuries and Arsenal’s failure to sign a striker in January, the Gunners boss attempted to leave.

Davison had one more question to ask, but before he could finish, Arteta marched off camera and ended the interview early.

Mikel Arteta hurried out of his post-match interview when asked if the 15-point gap to Liverpool was "too much". pic.twitter.com/VSs9uQWjdg

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 9, 2025

Roy Keane picks Arsenal title hopes apart

Speaking in the Sky Sports studio alongside Paul Merson, Jamie Redknapp and Gary Neville, Roy Keane offered his assessment on what’s gone wrong for Arsenal.

“10 draws is it? 10 draws… you’re not winning any league titles with 10 draws,” declared the Man Utd legend.

Arsenal did famously win the Premier League with 12 draws in the 2003/04 season, though that is of course the campaign in which they went unbeaten, meaning every other result was a victory.

The most recent team to win an EPL title with 10-plus draws was Leicester City (12 draws) in the 2015/16 season.

The Foxes ended that campaign with a points tally of 81 – a figure that would only have been good enough for fourth place last season.

When probed on why Arsenal have failed to convert so many of those draws into wins, Keane added: “A bit of everything.

“I’m sure there would’ve been frustration from the last few years when they didn’t get over the line and didn’t get themselves a cup.

“And then you’ve the injuries, and then you saw the manager there [in the interview with Davison], he certainly looks frustrated even though the title was gone a few weeks ago.

“But he would still want his club and his team to show great mentality, to come here (Old Trafford) and try and keep some sort of pressure on Liverpool.

“But over the last two or three games that’s gone now. We’ve mentioned it earlier, [Arsenal’s] biggest concern is [now] what’s happening with the teams behind them. They’ve lost that momentum for the season.

“I think what we saw today was nowhere near good enough. They’ve set really high standards over the last few years so on one hand you want to give them credit, but we always say the next step is the hardest step in terms of trying to win a league title.”

Latest Arsenal news – FIVE summer signings expected

In other news, trusted reporter, David Ornstein, has revealed the first five signings Arsenal’s impending new sporting director, Andrea Berta, will be tasked with making.

“Andrea Berta is 53-years-old, he’s Italian, he’s vastly experienced and I’m sure he’ll work heavily on recruitment, which is the area which all Arsenal fans are focusing at the moment,” said Ornstein.

“Arsenal in the summer are going to have a big window I’m sure, they’re looking to sign a striker, they would really like to do a deal for Alexander Isak – whether that’s going to be possible we’ll have to wait and see.

“They’ve done a lot of work on Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig too.

“When you go into midfield they’re hoping to complete a deal for Martin Zubimendi with Jorginho and Thomas Partey quite possibly leaving.

“There’s work to do at left-back because they’ll see Kieran Tierney go, maybe Zinchenko as well.

“They’ll need a second choice goalkeeper, they may need a third choice goalkeeper.

“And it will be the role of Andrea Berta to oversee all of that. Their finances are in good shape, and he’ll have to work very closely with Mikel Arteta as manager to deliver.”

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