Arsenal must learn from the mistakes their north London rivals Tottenham made if they are to win the Premier League this season, according to Jamie Carragher.
The Gunners enjoy a five-point advantage over reigning champions Manchester City at the top of the table ahead of the league’s Boxing Day resumption.
And it’s clear Mikel Arteta’s side have a good chance of winning their first league title since Arsene Wenger’s 2004 ‘Invincibles’.
However, the knee injury leading striker Gabriel Jesus suffered while playing for Brazil at the World Cup threatens to derail their title bid.
Carragher believes Arsenal must strengthen during the January window to compensate for the Brazilian’s absence otherwise their strongest title chance in years may pass them by.
He drew parallels with Tottenham under Harry Redknapp in the 2011-12 and Mauricio Pochettino in 2015-16 as a cautionary tale of how title dreams can fade without January investment.
‘Arsenal should learn from the mistakes their north London rivals made when they were in a similar position,’ Carragher wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
‘Both Tottenham sides had great chances to win the league at this point of the season.
‘In January 2012 and 2016, Spurs were genuine contenders, one quality signing away from continuing their momentum.
‘Redknapp’s side fell away to finish fourth well behind Manchester City, but Pochettino would have pipped Leicester City to the Premier League with more boardroom backing.
‘Daniel Levy favoured the long-term over the here and now and Spurs consoled themselves with the idea that, even though they lost out to Claudio Ranieri, other title bids would follow.
‘The reality is – as a club – they blew their best chance in decades of being champions.
‘Although their long-term planning has taken them this far, Arsenal will not want to look back with similar feelings of ‘if only’ in six months’ time.’
Arsenal will extend their lead to eight points if they beat West Ham on Boxing Day, with City not in action again until they travel to Leeds on December 28.
Arteta said on Thursday that Arsenal would be ‘active’ in the January market after losing Jesus, who has scored five goals and contributed six assists in the Premier League so far.
‘It’s going to take some time for sure,’ Arteta said of the striker.
‘He’s gone through surgery and that tells you the extent of the injury, so we will be in the market, always active and we will assess the biggest opportunities we have.
‘We are going to be active and active means we are looking to strengthen the team.
‘This squad still doesn’t have the luxury of not maximising every single window. We have to do that because it’s really important, but then we have to get the right profile.
‘It has to be the right player to take us to the next level.’