Mikel Arteta isn’t optimistic about Arsenal’s chances of signing a striker in the January transfer window, as the team’s goal troubles continue.

Arsenal were on the losing side of a 2-0 result against Liverpool in the FA Cup on Sunday, in yet another game where the team had plenty of chances but failed to convert.

According to statistics from Opta, Arsenal have created chances with a value of six expected goals in the last three games, but they’ve scored just once.

A lot of the blame is falling on the strikers, with Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah, and Kai Havertz receiving one start each and all failing to convert a single opportunity.

To make matters worse, Jesus is now injured, and there’s still some doubt over how serious the problem is.

As a result, many Arsenal supporters are calling for the club to go to the transfer market and bring someone in.

But Mikel Arteta suggested on Sunday night that those fans are set for disappointment.

“At the moment, it doesn’t look realistic,” Arteta said. “What my job is, and what we have to do is improve our players, and try to get [better results] with the players that we have.

“I think, at the end of the day, that match (against Liverpool) normally ends up in a really good way. Sometimes things happen for a reason, but today we cannot understand them.”

Arsenal have invested significantly in the squad over the last couple of transfer windows, and the budget to do more in the winter window is clearly not there.

Perhaps that could change with a sale or two, but the kind of striker that would take Arsenal to the next level is unlikely to be readily available for a reasonable price.

For the time being, it’s looking like Arteta is going to have to work with what he already has.