Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta must take one particular lesson from Liverpool counterpart Arne Slot as the pair prepare to meet in Sunday's headline Premier League battle at Anfield.
The first-vs-second clash on Merseyside could have been a potential title decider, but while the Reds have slain almost every foe in their path this season, the Gunners have stumbled time and time again, dropping 21 points from winning positions.
The latest of those collapses occurred in last weekend's 2-1 home loss to Bournemouth, a result that means Arteta's side have not yet sealed a top-five finish and remain at risk of losing their grip on a Champions League place for next season.
While Arteta only has one FA Cup and two Community Shields to show for his time in North London, Slot is just one of five managers to win the Premier League in their first campaign after Antonio Conte, Manuel Pellegrini, Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho.
Asked by Sports Mole what leaves Arsenal must take out of Liverpool's book to push them closer next season, Watts replied: "Keeping your your best players fit will be a good start!
Arsenal must 'take lessons' from Slot's Liverpool squad management
"It's something Arsenal need to definitely improve on. Sometimes it is just down to bad luck, and they have been hit with some bad luck at times, but I think Mikel needs to certainly take a lot from Slot in terms of rotating his squad.
"You look at the really big injuries Arsenal got to key players; losing Saka, Havertz for four months and now losing Gabriel for the season. They're three of the most important players who play pretty much every single minute, and they've all had their hamstrings torn off the bone.
"One feels unlucky, two feels maybe coincidental, three just feels like there is something wrong that you need to learn from. What Slot's done this season has been really good. He's managed his squad pretty well. I think Liverpool did start to show signs of tiring in the latter half of the season, but by then they were over the hill and riding off into the sunset.
"Slot's just had a brilliant first season, everything he's touched has turned to gold for them in the Premier League, and I think Arsenal certainly need to take some lessons from that. They need to learn from the mistakes they made in the last couple of transfer windows.
"They left themselves too short and that caught up with them. They just played their best players for too many minutes over the last couple of seasons, with a summer tournament in between, and it was just too much. Those players broke down, and they can't afford for that to happen again next season if they want to get closer to Liverpool, let alone get past them."
Comparing Arsenal and Liverpool's squad availability in 2024-25 season
© Imago
No rival fan should argue that Arsenal have been struck down by the injury gods this season; for this game alone, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Magalhaes are missing, while the Reds will only be without Tyler Morton and Joe Gomez.
A total of 19 Gunners players have missed at least one Premier League match this term through injury or illness, in comparison to 15 members of Liverpool's squad sitting out at least one top-flight game with an ailment of their own.
All in all, Arsenal players have been absent for a combined total of 171 Premier League matches due to fitness problems this season, while Liverpool men have sat out 96 contests, according to data from Transfermarkt.
In fact, the only senior Gunners players who have been available for every game have been Jakub Kiwior, Leandro Trossard and David Raya, whereas the likes of Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Ryan Gravenberch - five integral cogs - have been perennially present for the Reds.
Ben Knapton
