A disheartened Mikel Arteta urged his players to "show their teeth" and expressed his hope that they remain injury-free during the international break after a 1-1 draw with Chelsea, which further hindered Arsenal's title aspirations. Arsenal, now trailing Liverpool by nine points at the top of the table, squandered a chance to revitalize their campaign during a tense match at Stamford Bridge. Arteta's team, currently in fourth place after relinquishing eight points from winning positions this season, could not maintain their lead after Gabriel Martinelli's opener was canceled out by Pedro Neto's equalizer for Chelsea, propelling them to third place.

The frustration mounted for Arsenal, who missed several late opportunities to end their four-match winless streak. Arteta, who does not anticipate Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice to feature for England in the Nations League due to injuries sustained in the second half, lamented a defensive lapse that led to Neto's goal. He called on his team to dig deep and focus on catching Liverpool.

"When it gets tough, show your teeth and demonstrate how much you desire it," Arsenal's manager said. "When everything is easy and everyone is praising you, it's simple. But when it gets dark, difficult, and everyone is questioning, that's when I want to see who steps up. I'm looking around. Who is going to step into that box? Yes or no?"

Arteta's directive on how to close the gap on Arsenal's rivals was unambiguous. "Win, win, win, win, and win because our competitors don't stop winning," he stated. "That's what we must do."

Arsenal, who have not won away from home in the league since September 15, have been grappling with numerous fitness issues. Arteta was uncertain whether Martin Ødegaard would represent Norway after recovering from an ankle injury and hopes that no additional problems arise while his players are on international duty.

"What I'm praying for is that after the international break, we have the team fully physically prepared," he said. "That they are available and fit, because it's been a nightmare for eight weeks. Doubt after doubt, issue after issue, not only with those unable to play but also with those who can play only for certain moments and not consistently. I'm just asking for that, because the desire the team has and how much we want it is unquestionable. It's going to come. We just need that on our side to be more consistent."

Rice played through a broken toe against Chelsea, and Saka was withdrawn late in the game, leaving Arteta doubtful about their chances of participating in England's upcoming matches against Greece and the Republic of Ireland. "It doesn't look promising, because for two players of such importance to say they can't continue, it's obviously not good news," he said. "Two players who just came off, I don't know if I should expect them to be fit because if not, they wouldn't have come off."

England will also be concerned about the possibility of Cole Palmer withdrawing. Enzo Maresca was unsure whether the Chelsea attacker, who was limping after the final whistle, would be able to join Lee Carsley's squad. Maresca was satisfied with Chelsea's performance and downplayed Noni Madueke's reaction when he was substituted for Mykhailo Mudryk in the second half.

"The problem is when you change a player, they are never happy," Chelsea's head coach said. "Probably the only way to be happy is after the Wolves game where he scored a hat-trick and we changed him, so he was happy. It's not just about Noni, it's about all the players. It's a good thing because they want to be there until the end. But we thought in different ways, probably Pedro with Timber could be a little bit more aggressive – and also with Misha [Mudryk]. It was a tactical decision."

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