“Would you ordinarily do that?”

Gary Lineker has suggested that Arsenal are showing signs of ‘panic’ following their 2-1 defeat to Southampton in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Just days after the Gunners were tipped for an unprecedented quadruple, they have now seen that dream vanish after losing to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final before Saturday’s shock exit in the FA Cup.

Before the end of the just-concluded international window, 11 players from the north London club withdrew from their national squads, a move that immediately drew attention across the football world.

Speaking on The Rest is FootballLinker opined that Arsenal may have shown that they are afraid, pointing specifically to the decision that saw multiple players withdraw from international duty.

“I thought there was a slight signal of panic at Arsenal after the City game and they withdrew so many players (from the national teams), or rather the players themselves did it,” Lineker said. “Most of those players featured at some point during the game at St. Mary’s, either coming off the bench or otherwise. I wonder if that showed a bit of panic when you just needed some calm. It’s easy to say that now but would you ordinarily do that? I’m not sure you would.”

The defeats to Manchester City and Southampton marked the first time this season that the Gunners had suffered back-to-back losses, and it is just their fifth of the campaign. While their quadruple dream might have faded away, they are still in the running for the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.

Lineker ‘pretty confident’ Arsenal will win Premier League despite Carabao Cup and FA Cup setbacks

Despite their recent disappointments in domestic cup competitions, Lineker is confident that Arsenal will end their Premier League title drought this season. He highlighted the need to bounce back from their setbacks and insisted that they will win the league given their nine-point lead at the top of the table.

“The next game or two are hugely important for Arsenal, they need to steady the ship, there’s no doubt about it,” Lineker continued. “They’ve got a huge lead in the title race but it’s squeaky bum time. I think they will be fine, I think they will win the league, which will still be the main thing for them. The Champions League would obviously be an enormous bonus because it’s a competition they’ve never won.

“I’m pretty confident they will win the league. It’s not a bad situation to be in, nine points clear at the top of the Premier League and in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.”

Next up for the Gunners is a clash against Sporting CP in the Champions League.