Having won the Carabao Cup already, Liverpool had been contending for a momentous quadruple in an effort to give the exiting Jurgen Klopp the perfect sendoff.
The Reds, however, crashed out of the FA Cup last month following defeat at Old Trafford and lost ground in the race for the Premier League title last weekend following a 2-2 draw at the same venue.
Hopes of European success took a major dent on Thursday, meanwhile, when Klopp’s much changed side crashed to a shock 3-0 defeat against Atalanta.
Arsenal, similarly, are fighting on multiple fronts and their own hopes of progressing in the Champions League are in a delicate position after they were held by Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
‘There is difficulty in winning any match in any competition,’ said Arteta when asked about the challenge of competing for more than one top prize.
‘If you go to Europe or in the Premier League to any ground it is so difficult to win.’
Despite appearing to have thrown away two points against their fiercest rivals last weekend, Klopp declared himself more than satisfied with Liverpool’s display against United, and claimed that were Arsenal to deliver a similar level of performance when they visit the Theatre of Dreams in May then the result will be a foregone conclusion.
Arteta, by contrast, refused the invitation to join in the mind games when asked for his reaction to Liverpool’s recent wobble.
He said: ‘I have enough in my garden to look after so I don’t want to give any opininon about other clubs.’
Indeed, Arsenal could be back in third place by the time they kick-off against Aston Villa on Sunday and Arteta is well aware of the threat posed by Unai Emery’s side who are challenging for a top four place.
He said: ‘What they’ve done since Unai came in, he’s made a huge impact at the club in terms of performances and consistency, it’s unbelievable what they are doing.
‘They’re still in European competition and they played last night so its really impressive with what they’ve done.’
