Arsenal head to Anfield on Sunday desperately short of options in attack.

Bukayo Saka is out for at least six weeks, Noni Madueke and Christos Tzolis are in a race to be fit, and Max Dowman will serve a three-game ban after Arsenal’s appeal against his red card at Fleetwood was dismissed on Thursday.

Pace in behind was already in short supply in Mikel Arteta’s side, but now there’s even less of it. The Premier League’s latest speed data shows how big the problem is. Arsenal’s fastest player this season isn’t a winger or a striker. It’s a centre-back who has barely played.

Cristhian Mosquera is Arsenal’s fastest player this season

Cristhian Mosquera hit 34.83km/h against Coventry on the opening night of the season, and according to the Premier League, nobody at Arsenal has run quicker this season.

That’s quite a surprise. Ask most fans to guess Arsenal’s fastest player and they’d probably say Madueke.

The £13million signing from Valencia started the season well, partnering Gabriel in 3-0 wins over Manchester City in the Community Shield and Coventry. Then he got injured against Chelsea, Ezri Konsa came in and made the spot his own, and Mosquera hasn’t featured in the Premier League since. His only appearance in that time was the 90 minutes at Fleetwood on Tuesday.

The quickest players for most other teams in the Premier League are generally attacking players. Harvey Barnes is the fastest player in the division, hitting 36.21km/h for Newcastle against Aston Villa, followed by Bradley Barcola (35.93km/h) and Antoine Semenyo (35.74km/h).

Arsenal are missing pace in transition

It’s not just the lack of pure pace that is a problem for the Gunners. It’s not having that transitional quality, the ability to break quickly and hurt teams when they win the ball back. That was most evident in the 3-0 defeat at Brighton, where they hardly threatened on the counter.

It’s something they should have sorted out in the summer. Instead, Gabriel Martinelli, whose pace was a big part of his game, left along with Leandro Trossard, and Tzolis was the only attacker brought in.

Fixing that problem is why someone like Paris Brunner makes so much sense. The Monaco striker has hit 36.99km/h according to UEFA’s tracking, quicker than anyone in the Premier League has managed this season.

For now, Arteta has to find another way to stretch Liverpool on Sunday, at a ground he has never won at as a manager.