Arsenal told what they must do to catch Liverpool and Man City in title race amid 'question marks'

Arsenal have been told what they need to do to close the gap in the Premier League title race. The Gunners are currently five points behind Liverpool as they prepare to return from their break this weekend.

Mikel Arteta's men have failed to take their chances for the most part this season, struggling to stay consistent as a result, Arsenal return to action against Crystal Palace this weekend, fresh off the back of their weekend off, and they can ill-afford to fall further behind leaders Liverpool, who take on Bournemouth.

Ahead of the clash, Chris Sutton has detailed what Arsenal need to do if they want to catch the Reds, predicting a 2-0 home win for the Gunners with BBC Sport. "Crystal Palace went out of the FA Cup against Everton on Wednesday but they definitely had one eye on this game with the substitutions Roy Hodgson made," said the former striker.

"You know what Hodgson will do here - he will shut up shop and try to frustrate Arsenal, then hope to get something on the break, a lot like the Eagles did against Manchester City before Christmas. They have the quality to hurt Arsenal that way, but I still think this game is more about whether the Gunners can find a way through Palace's defence.

"Of course there are question marks over Mikel Arteta's side after their recent results, especially in attack where they have not been taking their chances. They need to find a way of changing that and I suspect they will, but this prediction is really what I'm hoping for more than anything else.

"I want to see Arsenal in the title race and challenging Manchester City at the end of the season. For that to happen, they will have to hang on in there during spells like this."