Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has admitted that his side are out of the Premier League title race following their 3-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool at Anfield this evening.

The Gunners fell to their third defeat in their last four league matches to drop out of the Champions League places, leaving them 13 points adrift of runaway league leaders Chelsea.

Cech believes that victory at Anfield would have kept alive his current side's hopes of chasing down his former club, but acknowledges that the gap is now too big to make up with only 12 games of the season remaining.

"We were more aggressive after the break and started winning the 50-50 battles. It's disappointing when you lose the game, but more disappointing conceding the first two goals because we weren't in danger," he told reporters.

"With three points we would have been in the chase for the title, but now we're too far. We need to ensure that we finish as high as possible and in the top four."

Arsenal are not in Premier League action again for another fortnight, when they face West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.