Andrey Arshavin: "Arsenal can kiss goodbye to the title if we lose against Liverpool"

Andrey Arshavin says Arsenal can kiss goodbye to any hope of winning the title if they slip up against Liverpool on Wednesday night.

The Gunners are nine points off the pace following a 2-0 defeat by leaders Chelsea at the weekend, which followed a 3-1 loss at home against Manchester United.

Arshavin believes their race for the Barclays Premier League crown is not yet dead, but he admits they will be peering over their shoulders at those chasing their top-four spot if a fifth-straight match goes by without victory.

You never surrender,' he said. 'In football, anything can happen. Stumbles, such as Chelsea losing to Everton, are quite possible. Then there is Chelsea's match against Manchester United (in April) when at least one rival has to drop points.

'For us, the main thing is to win our matches. The next one against Liverpool will be key. If we win, we have the chance to make up ground on the leaders and think about the title race.

'If, however, we continue our run of failure, we have to think about how we preserve what we have already got.'

Didier Drogba disproved Arsene Wenger's theory that the Chelsea striker 'doesn't do much' by scoring decisive goals in both of the Blues victories over Arsenal this season.

And Arshavin admitted: 'We didn't stop him and he made the result. This is one of the reasons for the defeat. We were unable to cope with Drogba.'