MIKEL ARTETA HINTED that injuries to his Arsenal squad are close to ending their Premier League challenge following a crushing 2-2 draw against Aston Villa at the Emirates.

Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz fired the home side into a 2-0 lead but Villa fought back through goals from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins in eight second-half minutes to deal a potentially devastating blow to Arsenal’s title tilt.

Arsenal have been rocked by injuries to a host of players this season, with Bukayo Saka out until at least March following hamstring surgery, while Gabriel Jesus is sidelined for the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Saka’s teenage understudy Ethan Nwaneri is also absent, while Arteta was dealt another injury blow on the eve of Saturday’s fixture with William Saliba unable to take part. The defender joins Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu in the treatment room.

Arteta’s substitutes consisted of three academy players, three left-backs, Jorginho and Raheem Sterling.

Only the former was introduced, with eight minutes left, as Arsenal chased a winner. In contrast, Darwin Nunez came off the bench to score twice for Liverpool in a stoppage-time victory at Brentford.

The Reds now lead Arsenal by six points with a game in hand, and when asked how pivotal a day this could prove in their bid for a first championship since 2004, Arteta, who was overseeing Arsenal’s third match in six days, said: “There are moments, and obviously they (Liverpool) managed to do that (win).

“They made the subs, and the subs made the impact and changed the game. On our side it was the opposite, even after conceding the two goals very close to each other.

“The danger was that I knew half the team could go downhill because we were physically drained.”

Asked again if Arsenal will have to move in the transfer market this month, the Spaniard replied: “When you look at the performances, I don’t know how many teams are playing at this level in the league. But when you look at the bench, you would probably say we are very short.”

On Saliba, Arteta added: “Tomorrow we’ll have more information, but am I worried? Yes, for sure, especially with the numbers that we have in the squad, and looking at our bench.”

Havertz looked to have won the game in the 88th minute only to see his strike disallowed by VAR after he was adjudged to have turned in Mikel Merino’s shot with his arm.

“I have not seen it enough, and there was one angle where it looks like the decision was made,” said Arteta.

“I am incredibly proud of this team. It was an immense performance. But I am very disappointed because defending the way we did for the second goal cannot be a part of our game if we want to be at the highest level in this country. It was nowhere near the standard required.”

Villa effectively ended Arsenal’s challenge with a 2-0 win here in April and Unai Emery came back to haunt his old employers again.

“We showed resilience and how we reacted when going two goals downs was fantastic,” said Emery. “We never gave up.

“Arsenal are contenders with Liverpool so today was a very good test, but we did a fantastic job. At the end, I was thinking maybe we can get another goal to win and this is the mentality I want.”