When the full-time whistle blew to confirm Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday – a match in which they had taken a two-goal lead – it was not the first time this season they had drawn against a top half side.

In fact, it was the seventh.

With two defeats and just two wins to add to those draws, victories against those sitting 1st-10th in the Premier League table have been hard to come by for the Gunners.

It means they have picked up 13 points from 11 games against those sides, so could this be what costs them the title?

When comparing to league leaders and title rivals Liverpool, who have picked up five wins from 10 games against top half sides and lead that particular table as it stands, it does not look favourable.

What will be a frustration for Mikel Arteta is that it has been this metric where they have excelled over the past two seasons.

At the end of both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns, where Arsenal have challenged Manchester City for the title, the Gunners have come out on top in points picked up against the top 10 teams in the league.

Perhaps one saving grace for Arteta, however, will be their ability to put away those sides in the bottom half of the league.

Their record against teams sitting 11th-20th has seen them pick up more than double the points – 31- of those they have taken off top half sides.

They have won 10 of the 11 games and drawn just one – a record equal to that of Liverpool.

Picking up points from those around you is never an easy task, but Arsenal will need to start turning some of those draws into wins if they want to still be competing alongside the Reds come the end of the season.