Glen Johnson has warned Mikel Arteta that Arsenal still need five more players - including a top striker - before they're in a position to challenge for the Premier League title again.
Arsenal were a mainstay at the summit of English football during the late 90s and early 2000s under Arsene Wenger, but the Gunners have fallen on hard times since the Frenchman stepped down. However, under Arteta, the Londoners are on track to finally muscle their way back into the Champions League after a multi-year absence from Europe's premier competition.
Arteta's charges are currently in fourth spot, a point ahead of Manchester United in the race for the final Champions League berth - but crucially, the Gunners have three games in hand on Ralf Rangnick's side. Their top-four credentials will be put to the ultimate test when they tackle Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.
Johnson, who spent six years on the books at Anfield during his playing career, has backed the Reds to get the job done in midweek. But he believes that the fixture isn't the foregone conclusion it may have been had the crunch clash taken place a couple of months ago.
"Liverpool will beat Arsenal on Wednesday, but Gunners are just five players off challenging for the title," Johnson told Ladbrokes ahead of the Cheltenham Festival. "Right now, you've got to say this is a slippery fixture for Liverpool; if this game was being played a couple of months ago, you'd put it down as an easy win - but I don't think that's the case now.
"Arsenal have found some form, they're playing really well and they're winning games. They're digging out results now, and they didn't have that backbone a couple of months ago. They've got themselves into fourth spot quietly, and I think it's going to be a really tough game for Liverpool. If I had to stick my neck out, I'd say Liverpool edge it 2-1."
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While Johnson might fancy Liverpool to come out on top against Arsenal, he has commended the remarkable job Arteta has done this year. The Gunners look set to bolster their squad again in the summer in a bid to sustain their position back amongst the Premier League's elite.
And the former Chelsea full-back is adamant that without an influx of new recruits, and an elite No 9, Arsenal are still some way off threatening the monopoly that Liverpool and Manchester City have forged at the top of the Premier League in recent years.
He added: "There's absolutely no chance that anyone would've backed Arsenal for a top four spot even two months ago, let alone the start of the season. They had such a bad start, but Mikel Arteta deserves a lot of credit, and what he's done very well is get rid of the bad apples in that team.
"Some eyebrows were raised when certain players went out the door, but he knows that squad much better than we do, and now look what the team are doing - they're clearly in a much better place both on and off the pitch without some of those players.
"The team he's got at the moment isn't good enough to compete for the title - yes, they're on a good run right now, but once you make the top four and you're in the Champions League you've then got to think about the next step. And if they want to close that gap on the top two or three in the league, they still need to improve and bring in reinforcements.
"They certainly need a new striker in the next transfer window, and then a couple of midfielders and centre-halves. Listen, they've got some decent players, but they're not good enough to be competing with the best in the division consistently."
