Arteta is right about everything he says. Arsenal haven't been much near it since the beginning of the season. As of this loss the gap with Liverpool is 8 points so here we are.
The problem is that they don't have many players left who can score. Saka is out for months. Gabriel Jesus isn't even expected to recover before the end of the season. Who will play as the striker really?
They desperately try players like Havertz (he is also out), Merino etc.. They aren't even strikers. I know Liverpool also doesn't have a good striker but they have Salah who takes a huge responsibility in most of the goals.
It was really a painful loss for Arsenal against West ham, initially I thought there is nothing that will make or stop Arsenal from winning West Ham because they really need that three points to close the gap between them and Liverpool but they couldn't make good use of the opportunity and assuming they win West ham, Liverpool would have be topping them with only 4 points which would have given them a great hope of toping Liverpool if they make mistake. But apparently, Arsenal is going to be unfortunate again this season because there is no hope of winning any trophy again and they are having a tough time because of the injury players.
This loss was a decisive game and there won't be another chance for Arsenal. Liverpool can just keep playing their way and sometimes a draw doesn't hurt them because it is almost certain that the competitors will make their mistakes.But to be honest, catching Liverpool this season couldn't get any more difficult. A single loss the whole season and if they keep going like that, they will have more than 90 points, which for any other team is close to impossible. Over are the days when Manchester City was getting close to 100 points and that was sometimes what's needed to seriously compete for the title.
However, losing against WHU at home is such a big setback that eventually they would not really deserve the title. Arteta must feel frustrated along with his whole team as they have been trying it for so long now.