Arsenal have been dealt a massive blow in their Premier League title race with Liverpool after defender Myles Lewis-Skelly was given a straight red card against West Ham.

The incident came in the 73rd minute with the Gunners trailing the Hammers 1-0 thanks to a first-half header by West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen. The academy graduate was caught out by Hammers star Mohammed Kudus just inside his half, and he brought the Ghanian down before he got a shot at a goal-scoring opportunity.

Craig Pawson initially gave Lewis-Skelly a yellow card, but after a VAR recommendation for an on-field review, the 18-year-old was dismissed. It is the second time in weeks that Lewis-Skelly has been sent off. Lewis-Skelly was sent off in the first half of the 1-0 away win against Wolves at the end of January. However, his red card was overturned upon an appeal by the Gunners for an unfair dismissal.

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A defeat at home to West Ham leaves Arsenal eight points behind Premier League title rivals Liverpool with 12 games to go until the end of the season. Arne Slot's Reds play on Sunday in a trip away at defending Premier League champions Manchester City, with a shot at extending their lead at the top of the table to 11.

Slot, whose team will play in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle later this month and a Champions League Round of 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain, has told Liverpool to remain in charge of their destiny as the 2024/25 season reaches its final stretch. "I think the biggest question to be asked is from Man City because we face a strong team again, like we faced at Villa," the Liverpool boss said.

"Yeah, Arsenal plays before us, but we know that doesn't make the game easier or more difficult than we have against City. We know we have 12 games to play, and Arsenal has 13 games to play. If we constantly look at Arsenal or what other teams are doing, that would not help us. We already know how difficult it is to go to the Etihad, so we don’t need Arsenal to get involved in that even more.”

Slot is aware of his team's busy schedule in the coming weeks, especially the European clashes home and away with French champions PSG. "At this stage of the competition, the quality of opponent is only going to be of a very high standard and in PSG we have drawn a team and a club with real European pedigree,” Slot added.

"They qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League in style earlier this week with a big win against Brest and they had some really good results in the league phase, defeating Stuttgart, Manchester City, Girona and Salzburg. As is the case with ourselves, PSG are top of their domestic league and are enjoying a long unbeaten run.

“This tells us all that we need to know about the challenge that we will face but it is also a challenge that we will look forward to, knowing that we also fully deserve to be in the last 16. Of course, our immediate focus is on our upcoming Premier League fixtures, starting with Manchester City on Sunday, but we will be doing everything we can to ensure that we are in the best possible shape when the Champions League resumes.”