Thierry Henry has admitted that Arsenal will find it very difficult to finish in the Premier League’s top four this term.
The Gunners lost 3-0 to Premier League leaders Manchester City in the League Cup final at Wembley on Sunday afternoon.
Goals from Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silve secured Pep Guardiola’s first trophy as Manchester City boss.
Arsenal will switch their focus back to the Premier League this week when Manchester City make the trip to the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.
The Gunners are 10 points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the race to secure a Champions League spot.
Arsene Wenger’s men missed out on a top-four spot last season to relegate them to the Europa League in the 2017-18 campaign.
Former Arsenal legend Henry opened up about the north London side’s prospects for the remainder of the season.
“It looks like for Arsenal, top four is going to be difficult, although they are playing City on Thursday and can close the gap back to five points, but it’s not exactly what you would have expected of Arsenal and not the response that you would have expected from last year,” Henry told Sky Sports.
“But we all know that it’s difficult. Tottenham is doing what Tottenham has been doing recently, Man United, City, Liverpool, so it’s obviously difficult for Arsenal to make top four.
“So you would have liked Arsenal to have done something on Sunday, I would have liked that, because I think they were a tiny bit more under pressure than Man City, because City are now looking like they could do the ‘small treble’, but hey, they deserved it, but as an Arsenal fan it was difficult to take yesterday.”
Arsenal will take on Serie A giants AC Milan in the Europa League last 16 following a 4-2 win over Ostersunds.
The Gunners can secure a Champions League spot if Arsenal manage to win the Europa League this term.
The north London outfit signed Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the January transfer window.