First it was Chelsea. Manchester City followed soon after. And now apparently, it's Arsenal. Indeed, the list of teams unable to compete with Liverpool seemingly continues to grow after what felt a pivotal weekend in the Premier League title race.

The Reds went first at Brentford and while they needed two injury-time goals from the much-maligned Darwin Nunez to secure victory, the 37 shots they posted was the most by an away team since OPTA started taking records 22 years ago.

It simply underlined Liverpool's utter dominance at the Gtech Community Stadium and while the Bees proved a tough nut to crack, that Arne Slot's side finally cracked their shell open shouldn't be a huge surprise for anyone watching them crank up the pressure as the game wore on.

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A seven-point gap was reopened by Liverpool with a game in hand remaining on their rivals.

The ball, then, was firmly in Arsenal's court and the Gunners proceeded to fumble it badly when they allowed a two-goal lead slip against Aston Villa. Unai Emery bloodying his old club's nose by snatching an unlikely draw.

That Mikel Merino's goal was ruled out late on for a Kai Havertz handball rubbed salt in the wounds but Mikel Arteta's mask finally slipped post-match as the Arsenal boss conceded that keeping pace with Liverpool was simply proving too difficult for the threadbare Gunners.

Arteta, responding to Arsenal's inability to use their bench to control the latter stages of the game, as well as Nunez's late double, admitted that the Gunners just can't compete with Liverpool's resources at this moment in time.

He said: "There are moments, and obviously they (Liverpool) managed to do that (win).

"They made the subs, and the subs made the impact and changed the game. On our side it was the opposite, even after conceding the two goals very close to each other.

"The danger was that I knew half the team could go downhill because we were physically drained."

He added: "When you look at the performances, I don't know how many teams are playing at this level in the league. But when you look at the bench, you would probably say we are very short."

It comes after Pep Guardiola admitted his Man City side were unable to contest with Liverpool after a horrendous season so far and Enzo Maresca has been consistent that his Chelsea team are yet to develop enough to fight for titles with the Reds.

And yet you'd be forgiven for thinking that Liverpool have simply spent their rivals off the park.

Nothing though, could be further from the truth.

Indeed, a glance at the three clubs' net spends over the past five seasons shows that only Manchester City - a side whose spending over the past 15 years dwarfs that of almost all but their Manchester rivals - are below Liverpool.

Chelsea, while 13 points behind Liverpool, are almost £500m ahead of the Reds in terms of positive net spend over the past five years. Only once have they made a profit in the market, that being the £31m made in 2021/22. They'd follow that up with an eye-watering £442m positive net spend over the following season, with over £700m splurged on new signings by the club's American owners.

The Londoners, who have not been charged at any point by the Premier League for PSR breaches, have been unable to assemble a squad capable of challenging for the title just yet.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have not once made a profit on transfers in the past five seasons and have a negative net spend of £469m during that time. Almost double that of Liverpool's.

And while Arteta has clearly assembled a team capable of fighting with City for the title over the past couple of seasons, his six-year reign so far has only yielded one major trophy and he's finding out that the last step is the hardest one to take.

This summer they brought in five new signings to Liverpool's one, including Merino for £31m and Riccardo Calafiori for a fee north of £40m They are also hoping to sign Reds target Martin Zubimendi next summer for around £55m.

Raheem Sterling was also brought in on a loan deal from Chelsea, following Kai Havertz across London after the German had been signed for a fee of around £60m the previous summer.

Joining alongside Havertz were £35m Jurrien Timber and the £105m Declan Rice.

Expensive taste, perhaps, but Arteta has been given ample opportunity to build a squad capable of fighting on all fronts, especially against a Liverpool side whose net spend stands at £249m, having made a profit last summer with just Federico Chiesa brought in.

Indeed, Liverpool's transfer activity, or perhaps the lack of it, has often been used as a stick to beat owners Fenway Sports Group, and yet with the resources they've been given, the Reds have built a squad capable of fighting on all fronts, picking up trophies and covering for the major injury absences that have gone under the radar this term.

Yes, Arsenal have been hit hard by injuries this season. And much in the same way as happened to Liverpool last year, they look to have taken their toll on the Gunners.

But a glance at Liverpool's injury list only underlines the exceptional job Slot has done to keep his squad grounded and grinding out results.

Three Liverpool players, Harvey Elliott, summer signing Chiesa and first choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker, have all missed eight league matches.

Diogo Jota has been sidelined for seven in total. Ibrahima Konate has missed six, the same number as Conor Bradley, while a number of other players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dominik Szoboszlai and Joe Gomez have all missed league matches.

Arsenal's problems are no doubt worse, with major absences such as Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard proving difficult to overcome, but their inability to find a regular goalscoring goals has been an ongoing problem, while their overreliance on set-pieces is an issue created by their sheer enthusiasm to play for them.

The fact remains that Arteta should be able to compete with Liverpool. He's had every opportunity. They should, by now, have a squad deep enough to provide cover.

This was a season of opportunity for any side capable of stepping up during City's transitional campaign. Right now it's Liverpool doing that.

The pressure now is firmly on the Gunners to close the gap, and with a favourable fixture list compared to Liverpool, it's possible. But failure to do so will leave Arteta with very few excuses.