Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has suggested inconsistent enforcing of rules from Premier League referees has affected the club’s title bid.

The Gunners were beaten 1-0 at home by West Ham United on Saturday – their first defeat at the Emirates Stadium during 2024/25 – and lost Myles Lewis-Skelly to a straight red card after VAR recommended that Craig Pawson send the left-back off for denying Mohammed Kudus a goalscoring opportunity.

Lewis-Skelly was initially handed a yellow card by Pawson, with the incident taking place on the halfway line, but David Raya’s positioning way outside of his penalty area made a free shot on goal a near certainty for Kudus.

There has been no suggestion that Pawson’s decision was incorrect, but the red card did increase Arsenal’s tally for the Premier League season to five – the highest in the division.

Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard saw red earlier this season after picking up two yellow cards, both of which included cautions for delaying the restart, and Arteta, speaking before the Gunners’ trip to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, hinted those particular rules have not been consistently enforced throughout the campaign.

“Yes there are things in certain red cards that we had that we could have done differently,” Arteta said. “Even though now the rules appear to change again and not considered what it was before.

“In other aspects it’s very difficult to change because when you ask the player why they have made that decision, it’s a very spontaneous decision. A very sharp movement or decision-making that caused you the action. It’s very difficult to change that.

“We have made big strides this season, big time, because we should be in a very different position with everything that has happened,” the Spaniard added. “There’s no team in Premier League history with five red cards and the amount of injuries we’ve had that were in the position that we are in today. You [should be] in the middle of the table and out of the Champions League.”

Arsenal now trail leaders Liverpool by 11 points and know any further slip-ups will almost certainly see the Premier League title head to Merseyside for a second time in five years.