He was let go by Unai Emery for free but now former Arsenal star has damaged Mikel Arteta’s title hopes

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Arsenal have a mountain to climb in the Premier League title race, and thus need every marginal advantage they can get.

The Gunners sit six points adrift of league leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

Mikel Arteta and his squad are currently in Dubai, while the Merseysiders face a trip to neighbours Everton on Wednesday night.

This gives the Spaniard’s ensemble the opportunity to rest and reset, and they’ll be buoyed by the news that Bukayo Saka and Ben White are both nearing a return from injury.

However, as the Arsenal players were enjoying the Middle Eastern sun over the weekend, they indirectly suffered a potentially damaging blow in the title race.

Former Arsenal defender Julio Pleguezuelo stars in Plymouth win over Liverpool

Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup in early January, losing to Manchester United on penalties in the third round.

This defeat meant that the Gunners’ first team were able to jet off to Dubai over this weekend, as they weren’t involved in the competition’s fourth round.

While they’ll likely have paid little attention to ongoings in the FA Cup as they relaxed in the United Arab Emirates, one fixture would’ve stood out.

Liverpool were beaten by a Plymouth Argyle side rooted to the bottom of the Championship.

A 53rd minute penalty from Ryan Hardie defeated the Reds, putting to an end Arne Slot’s hopes of winning the quadruple.

Former Arsenal defender Julio Pleguezuelo started for the Green Army, and defended resolutely in a stern unit for 67 minutes, before he was hooked.

The Spaniard left Arsenal for free in 2019, having made his first team debut under Unai Emery.

The ex-Gunners boss opted not to renew the centre-back’s contract, despite him showing glimpses of quality in the Hale End academy.

Now a dependable member of the Plymouth squad, Pleguezuelo was essential to the Championship outfit’s historic victory over Liverpool.

Liverpool FA Cup exit is a blow for Arsenal title hopes

With the points gap between Arsenal and Liverpool significant at this stage of the season, the Gunners need every minor detail to go in their favour to claw back the deficit.

Slot’s side exiting the FA Cup will certainly not help Arteta and his team.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	23	17	5	1	56	21	35	56
2	ArsenalArsenal	24	14	8	2	49	22	27	50

Liverpool progressing to the next round would’ve given them another fixture to think about.

The fifth round of the competition is scheduled to take place the weekend before the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, and thus would’ve been a distraction to Slot and added to their fixture pile up.

Now, they’ll have a much-needed weekend off to prepare for the cluster of fixtures that awaits beyond that.

Meanwhile, the Quarter-Final at the end of March would’ve seen a Liverpool league game rescheduled and moved late in the season.

Although this fixture quirk is a minor detail, it could make a meaningful impact.

Pleguezuelo’s exploits may just have hindered his old team.