Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted that "something is missing" when it comes to Arsenal winning a major trophy.

The Gunners are in the mix at the top of the Premier League table for the third year in succession. Arsenal have finished as runners-up in the Premier League in each of the last two seasons to Manchester City.

This time around it is not City whom they are chasing, but Liverpool, who are flying under the tutelage of Arne Slot in his first season in England.

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Arsenal are six points behind Slot's Reds, having played a game more than the league leaders. They can close the gap to three points this weekend, albeit perhaps only for a day, as they face Brighton on Saturday evening before Liverpool take on Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

Having come so close in each of the last two campaigns - five points adrift in 2022/23 and then two points shy in 2023/24 - there was hope that Arsenal could go one better this time around.

They still might, although they have some real catching up to do in the second half of the season to make that dream a reality. And speaking about the Premier League title race, Arteta made the bold admission during his pre-match press conference ahead of the game with the Seagulls.

When asked if the experience of being in a two-horse race the last two seasons gave him encouragement in chasing down Liverpool, Arteta said: "All we have to do is show the same level of consistency and a bit more, because the last year we have been the best team in the league, broken various records and still haven’t won a major trophy, so something is missing.

"It can be very tiny, small details, you can pick up certain games, certain situations, but at the end we are so close and we just need to flip that coin to the other side to make that happen. It’s only going to happen if we do what we have to do and what we can control, the rest is out of control."

The admission shows that Arteta is neither resting on his laurels nor believing his team are the finished article. He also admitted his belief that his team have "been the best" suggesting they need to show it consistently to prove it.