For all the talk that Arsenal are missing a top striker, Saturday night's setback against Aston Villa had more to do with the team's lack of discipline and strength.
Liverpool have sent in Diogo Jota, Kostas Tsimikas and Darwin Núñez in the last two games to change the results, while Arsenal have been unable to do so after losing Bukayo Saka, Ben White and now William Saliba to injury.
'Normal' Arsenal would have finished the job having led Villa 2-0. But they were not so calm without Saliba at the center of their defense.
The tension even reached Mikel Arteta, who has been less excitable on the touchline in general this season, but was gentle again when his team lost their way at the Emirates.
Everything about Arsenal smacked of desperation in this damaging draw against Villa.
The end result is that Arsenal are now six points behind Liverpool, having played one more game than their title rivals.
Aston Villa came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Arsenal on a disappointing night for the hosts.
Everything about the Gunners' performance in the frustrating tie smacked of desperation.
Arsenal lost William Saliba to injury before the clash to add to Arteta's growing injury list.
Arne Slot's players won't be celebrating and saying the right things in front of the TV cameras, but I've been in the dressing room and, believe me, there will have been a few more smiles in the camp back on Merseyside than there. It would have been if Arsenal had seen the game and won.
At some point, having to play with people out of position will have a negative impact and we saw this with midfielder Thomas Partey deployed at right back.
He didn't close down Lucas Digne for Villa's first goal and came off at the wrong time, leaving Ollie Watkins in play for the equalizer.
You could see the commotion go through the entire stadium.
It was all very manic as Arsenal tried to get the winner, like in a basketball match.
It was fantastic entertainment, but it's not necessarily about winning league championships.
They would have known that Aston Villa had speed and would look to counterattack, so I don't think that, once ahead, it made sense to take risks.
Killing the game would have been enough given what was at stake.
Mikel Arteta has been less excitable on the touchline this season but was back to form on Saturday.
Arne Slot and Co will have smiled on the Liverpool bus back to Merseyside
Arsenal are struggling with a lack of quality depth and the draw only highlighted this issue.
It shows how important Saliba's presence is in the Arsenal defence.
He's not a particularly vocal player, a shouter, he leads by example, but he would have helped Arsenal absorb the pressure.
We've seen them do it before, but they're not as good because they're missing key components.
That lack of strength in depth is hitting them. Jota and Tsimikas combined for a midweek equalizer against Nottingham Forest just seconds after coming off the bench.
Slot's changes at Brentford on Saturday – sending in Nunez, Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott – played a part in his decisive goals in stoppage time.
That strength in depth is something Arteta must envy.
Raheem Sterling was probably brought in for such occasions, but he hasn't hit the ground running for Arsenal and even someone with as much experience and success as him needs to build trust and belief.
The big narrative this season has been that Arsenal are missing a consistent goalscorer, but I see it differently.
Slot was able to cause players like Darwin Nunez to have a devastating impact against Brentford.
Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas had already combined from the bench earlier in the week.
Arsenal's Achilles heel has actually been their inability to consistently keep a clean sheet.
Their Achilles heel has actually been their inability to keep a clean sheet. They don't look cohesive from a defensive point of view (especially with Saliba's absence) and that's why Villa left North London with a draw.
On that Liverpool manager's trip north, senior players like Virgil van Dijk may be trying to remind the younger players not to get carried away with the game at hand: a Merseyside derby, the last at Goodison Park.
But you can't shake the feeling that Liverpool will probably win the title. The simple fact is that they can handle injuries and absences better than Arsenal at the moment.
And the way they manage games is currently better than the way Arsenal do.