Arsenal manager Unai Emery said his side "need big help" to finish in the top four after Sergio Aguero's hat-trick condemned them to a 3-1 defeat at Manchester City.
The Londoners bounced back from Aguero's first goal, scored after just 48 seconds, to equalise through Laurent Koscielny, but the City striker restored his side's lead before half-time and added his third in the second half.
The result leaves Arsenal sixth in the table, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
Asked on Sky Sports about their top-four chances, Emery said: "After losing 3-1 it's not easy to say that, but know we need big help.
"They [City] showed their superiority in 90 minutes. They held their level in 90 minutes, and our level in the second half was worse than the first.
"Our challenge now is the next week, to continue to work and improve, and to think how we can work and be better."
The Arsenal manager told the BBC: "Last week we won and were with Chelsea in fourth position, but we lost today and lost this position.
"But we are going to go game by game thinking: 'Win the next match.' Maybe if we win we can take the opportunity in the near future to be near the other teams and play with this motivation."