Arsenal failed to move three points behind Liverpool following a 1-1 draw away to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday evening.
Jorginho, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard came into the Gunners' starting line-up, while Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Jurrien Timber dropped out after the win over Brentford on New year's Day.
It took the Gunners 15 minutes to get the breakthrough when 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri found the back of the net with a lovely finish after being given time and space to run at the Brighton defence.
It took a while for the Seagulls to get going but they did carve out a big chance on 34 minutes Simon Adingra collected a pass from Matt O'Reily, but the Ivorian was unable to profit as he skewed his effort.
Brighton were unable to build on that momentum in the closing stages of the first half, as they were restricted by the Gunners and forced into efforts from distance, none of which troubled goalkeeper David Raya.
The hosts responded with two changes in the second half as Georginio Ruta and Yankuba Minteh replaced by O'Riley and Brajan Gruda while the Gunners threw on Martinelli for Nwaneri.
Brighton got back in the contest just before the hour mark after winning a penalty for William Saliba's foul on Joao Pedro in the box. The Brazilian forward stepped and dispatched the penalty to level matters.
The Gunners, however, found it tough to restore their advantage in the latter stages of the second half, as thy had to make do with a point.
The result sees Arsenal now sit five points behind Liverpool, who host struggling Manchester United on Sunday evening.