Arsenal

This week's Monday Night Football defeat at Crystal Palace left Arsenal seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City and was accompanied by significant numbers of supporters calling on Wenger to end his 21-year reign in the summer.

The manager will be out of contract while Ozil's deal, like team-mate Alexis Sanchez's, has little more than a year to run.

Andros Townsend gave Crystal Palace a 1-0 lead with a close-range finish on 17 minutes, despite Arsenal's dominance in possession in the first period.

The Gunners were second best after the break, and it was 2-0 just after the hour mark through Yohan Cabaye's looping effort, before Luka Milivojevic put Palace three ahead from the penalty spot after Emiliano Martinez brought down Townsend.

Six defeats in their last nine matches have seen the Gunners knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich in embarrassing fashion and slip out of the top four in the Premier League.

Wenger's future at the Emirates has been the subject of increased scrutiny as he approaches the end of his contract in the summer.

After his side slumped to a fourth Premier League defeat in five games at West Brom, leaving them six points adrift of the top four with 11 games to go, Wenger said his side are in "unique" peril.

"Don't worry, I know what I will do in my future so you will soon know, very soon," Wenger said after a 3-1 loss at The Hawthorns.

With around 9,000 fans at the Emirates, the visitors more than held their own until the deadlock was broken in first-half injury-time by Theo Walcott.

Arsenal asserted their authority after the break as Olivier Giroud settled any nerves in the 53rd minute and then Luke Waterfall deflected into his own net.

Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey extended the advantage as the Gunners finished strongly to join Manchester City in the semi-finals.

Wenger maintains he has not privately made up his mind on his future but will consider fan opinion when he decides whether or not to leave Arsenal in the summer when his contract expires.

The Gunners, who started Alexis Sanchez on the bench for tactical reasons, were 2-0 down at half-time after goals by Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

Sanchez, on as a half-time substitute, set up Danny Welbeck to reduce the deficit but a stoppage-time strike by Georginio Wijnaldum sealed victory for Liverpool.

They move up to third having played two games more than fourth-placed Manchester City, who face Sunderland on Nissan Super Sunday.

Sutton more than held their own throughout the 90 minutes but they were behind in the 27th minute after Lucas Perez's strike broke the deadlock.

After the break, Theo Walcott grabbed his 100th Arsenal goal in the 55th minute to ease the Premier League side's nerves.

But Sutton continued to look for a way back into the tie and were inches away from making it an uncomfortable ending for the Gunners, but Roarie Deacon's powerful shot cannoned back off the crossbar.

Thiago Alcantara struck twice on Thursday (AEDT) and Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben and substitute Thomas Mueller were also on target as the Bavarians, struggling for form recently, inflicted Arsenal's first defeat of the season in Europe's premier club competition.

Alexis Sanchez had equalised for the visitors, scoring on the rebound after Manuel Neuer saved his 30th-minute penalty.

The sides meet for the second leg in London on March 8.

Casermiro wonder goal puts Real in control

Arsene Wenger said the Gunners "missed the first half" against the Hornets and were not "ready for the challenges" as they were beaten 2-1 at the Emirates.

The defeat was Mustafi's first since joining in the summer, and leaves the Gunners nine points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea ahead of their meeting on Sky Sports on Saturday.