Arsenal suffered a damaging defeat on Sunday on Merseyside against Everton and now a top 4 finish is in serious jeopardy especially after Chelsea won on Monday Night against West Ham.

The match was decided by a solitary goal scored by Phil Jagielka in a match that was dominated by the Toffees at Goodison Park. The veteran defender scored after 10 minutes yet Arsenal were unable to react in what was, overall, a disappointing performance.

Following this defeat, Arsenal dropped to fifth in the table as they missed a significant opportunity to go ahead of Tottenham and into third place. Unai Emery’s side now have 63 points, just one behind Tottenham but are three behind Chelsea, albeit with a game in hand, and 2 points ahead of Manchester United. According to a leading betting sites comparison website, the Gunners are now 8/11 to finish in the top four. It looks like a tight battle for the Champions League and one that is likely to go to the wire.

Jagielka became the oldest goalscorer in the league this season having netted at 36 years and 233 days. Everton performed well. In contrast to Arsenal, they were hungry and aggressive. They now sit in 9th position on 46 points. In the second half, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison could have made the result even more damaging for Arsenal but, thankfully, failed to convert their opportunities.

Arsenal have conceded at least one goal in every single away match in this campaign and looked fragile once again at the back. The Gunners came close to scoring through Henrikh Mkhitaryan but, generally, they were outfought and outplayed by the hosts. In total, they had just two attempts on goal in the whole encounter. Mesut Ozil was disappointing, even as captain, and had one of his typically frustrating lacklustre away matches.

Arsenal’s frustration was clear and obvious when the two managers were involved in a confrontation in the second half of the game.

Arsenal need to get back into shape quickly as they face Napoli in the Europa League quarter-final on Thursday. Afer the Everton match, Emery said that, despite the fact it was a bad result, as long as they bounce back immediately the chances of qualifying for the Champions League are still good.

The question is, with more games left away from home than at the Emirates, can they?