Former Arsenal centre-back William Gallas believes the club are 'crapping themselves' in the face of mounting another title challenge following their FA Cup exit to ten-man Manchester United.
Arsenal are the joint third-highest scorers in the Premier League this season, behind Liverpool and Tottenham and level with Chelsea, and ran up an impressive 91 goals with much the same personnel last season.
But their reliability in front of goal this season has been inconsistent from game to game. Arsenal's stats have been bolstered by hitting five against West Ham and Crystal Palace, four against Leicester, and three against Nottingham Forest and Brentford - but there have been multiple games where they have wasted a fleet of chances.
William Gallas offers brutal assessment of Arsenal title chances
Speaking to Prime Casino, Gallas said: "I don't want to be too rude about Arsenal, but it looks like they are scared to take advantage of the opportunity they’ve been given this season. They are crapping themselves!
"Manchester City dropping off has given them a massive opportunity to win the Premier League and they haven’t taken advantage, and when Liverpool have dropped points - and I think they will drop more - Arsenal haven’t capitalised."
Gallas has joined the already-massive chorus of people who have identified the same issue for his former club, saying "At Arsenal, it’s been the same problem for years. They are missing a world-class striker! We’ve been talking about it for years!"
"Did they make a mistake by not signing a proper striker in the summer? When you look at the chances they are missing the answer is obvious.
"Not having a killer has cost Arsenal too much this season. Out of the FA Cup in a game they dominated, hanging by a thread in the League Cup and dropping points in the Premier League.
"It’s not a good look for the Gunners when they keep missing so many chances."
Arsenal will return to Premier League action with a North London derby on Tuesday evening as Tottenham Hotspur come to the Emirates Stadium.
That is the third of five straight home games for Mikel Arteta's side, who will take on Aston Villa on Saturday before hosting Dinamo Zagreb the following Wednesday.
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