Arsenal have established consistency like no other team in the Premier League over the past several years.
The Gunners have finished runners-up three years in a row, and while silverware continues to elude Mikel Arteta, he has fashioned his squad into a team of superstars, feared by all across Europe. Despite a recent blip, Arsenal remain top of the standings, their performances and stability creating the general opinion that they are the most complete side in the division, the favourites for the title.
However, while Manchester City and Aston Villa chase up to the Emirates side, Arteta will likely feel that injury troubles stand as his greatest adversary once again.
The latest Arsenal injury news
Once again, Arsenal find themselves on the top end, the wrong end, of the Premier League injury table, but Arteta and new sporting director Andrea Berta have made positive moves on the transfer front, and they have crafted a balanced squad capable of dealing with such setbacks.
|
Premier League Injury Table (25/26) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Team |
Total Injuries |
Injury Types |
|
Arsenal |
9 |
5 |
|
Tottenham |
8 |
7 |
|
Burnley |
8 |
4 |
|
Crystal Palace |
8 |
3 |
|
Bournemouth |
7 |
2 |
|
Liverpool |
6 |
6 |
|
Data via PhysioRoom |
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As the table-toppers prepare to host Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday evening, Arteta will be gritting his teeth amid a wave of setbacks, with key players like Declan Rice, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Leandro Trossard all ruled out or doubtful ahead of the top-meets-bottom clash.
However, the club have been boosted by the return of Gabriel Jesus, who made his first appearance of the season off the bench against Club Brugge in midweek, drawing plaudits for his silky and proactive display.
It had been nearly a year since the Brazilian had played for the Gunners in a professional capacity, having torn his ACL last year, and while there have been murmurings of late regarding Jesus’ potential departure from the Emirates Stadium, Arteta has poured cold water on such claims, instead urging the 28-year-old to kick on and become the main man.
Arsenal’s current injury crisis suggests he has a chance to do so, but Jesus may even work his way into the starting line-up over a star who is fresh and raring to go at number nine, having been likened to former Gunners goalscorer Olivier Giroud.
Arteta must drop the new Olivier Giroud
When Arsenal completed a £64m deal for Viktor Gyokeres this summer, it was felt that Arteta had finally solved an interminable problem at the spearhead, landing a 27-year-old striker who had scored 97 goals across just two seasons in Portugal with Sporting Lisbon.
But the powerhouse of a forward has found it difficult thus far. Too often he has drifted through games, struggling for service and fluency in the final third. He has scored six goals across 18 matches in all competitions, including four strikes in the Premier League.
The £200k-per-week striker has not hit the ground running since returning to England, but that’s not to say that he won’t rekindle the kind of form that has struck such fear into European defences over the past few years.
And with former stars such as Theo Walcott suggesting that Gyokeres has what it takes to emulate someone like Giroud, claiming the Sweden international is “similar” and “probably stronger” than the veteran Frenchman, who scored 105 goals and supplied 37 assists across 253 matches for the Gunners.
For now, though, Arteta might be wise to give Jesus a run in the side and withdraw Gyokeres from the starting line-up. He has left much to be desired so far this season and was branded with a 5/10 match rating by football.london in Brugge, missing a golden opportunity after Gabriel Martinelli’s whipped delivery and altogether flattering to deceive as the focal frontman.
As per Sofascore, he squandered two big chances, losing all three ground duels and taking only 12 touches, while losing possession on four occasions. That equates to having lost the ball every three touches.
Giroud, 39, only scored one goal from his first ten Premier League appearances in 2012/13, having joined Arsenal from Montpellier in Ligue 1.
With Merino capable as a moonlit centre-forward, demotion to the bench might not be a bad thing for Gyokeres as he looks to find his feet.
Giroud, after all, established a reputation as a high-scoring substitute in the Premier League, scoring 21 times. With Gyokeres, Arteta could repeat that trick.
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