Arsenal verdict: Arteta’s lack of squad depth laid bare as tired Gunners struggle to keep up red-hot start to season

PSV EINDHOVEN made Arsenal look more National League than Europa League.

The need to provide Mikel Arteta with more squad depth in January looked glaringly obvious on Thursday night as his tired troops waved the white flag.

The heroes of North London remain top of the Premier League but they won’t be for long if this form continues.

The midfield looked lethargic and the defence looked knackered – even Aaron Ramsdale was at fault for a goal.

A sluggish back line allowed PSV to run riot in the first half.

The Dutch hosts scored a brace in the opening period, only for them both to be disallowed through VAR.

And a pair of second-half goals from Joey Veerman and Luuk De Jong gave Ruud van Nistelrooy’s team the easy 2-0 win.

Now the Gunners must beat FC Zurich at the Emirates next week to guarantee they won’t be facing the likes of Barcelona and Juventus when they drop down from the Champions League.

After Arsenal fans begged Arteta to sit his stars for the Eindhoven clash, he played near enough a full-strength XI.

Now he must take Zurich seriously and give his experienced players another gruelling game.

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The former midfielder’s side clearly ran out of steam at St Mary’s against Southampton at the weekend.

They conceded an equaliser and dropped two points as the slide in energy and urgency was there for all to see.

Manchester City are gaining momentum and they aren’t going anywhere.

Pep Guardiola’s team now sit just two points away from the league leaders and Haaland and his mates are baying for blood.

Arteta would not have expected to be ahead of his former mentor at this stage of the season.

By all means, the North London club have excelled all expectations so far.

But owner Stan Kroenke is willing to finance another spending spree despite splashing out a hat full of cash in the summer.

He will back the Spanish boss with £50million of hard cash in the January transfer window.

This should help to prevent their title bid being wrecked by burn-out if it’s used wisely.

With a winter World Cup coming up, which Haaland won’t be involved in, Gunners supporters may find themselves watching more tired displays like the one against PSV.

Manager Arteta is said to want to add at least two more players to his squad to help them stay top of the tree this Christmas.