Arsenal are only one point off the top of the Premier League table and cruised through their Champions League group, but throughout this season there have been questions asked about whether their goalkeepers and strikers are good enough for a team chasing major titles.
Debates over those two positions have been on a rotational loop all campaign and after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa it was the forwards who came under the spotlight.
According to Opta, Arsenal generated an expected goals (xG) total of 1.40 at Villa Park, a higher figure than three other games that they have won this season. Wastefulness in attack, more so than sloppiness at the back, cost them vital points.
The Gunners, who round off their group stage against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday, are Premier League’s fourth-highest scorers, behind only Manchester City, Liverpool and Villa, but there is a suspicion that they lack a ruthless No 9 who could make the difference between finishing first or not, or going far in the Champions League. Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka are Arsenal’s joint-leading scorers in the league with five apiece, but the leading scorers of 13 of the other 19 clubs in the division have more.
Gabriel Jesus was certainly not guilty of missing Arsenal’s best chances at Villa Park – that was Martin Odegaard – but there was one moment that invited scrutiny of the Brazilian’s performance.
After intelligently peeling into space between Villa’s right-back and right-sided centre-back in the centre of the box, Jesus miscontrolled a clipped Saka pass, with the ball bouncing away from Emi Martinez’s goal.
It may seem hyper-critical to pull Jesus up on one poor touch, but a player of his calibre should have cushioned it into his path for a clear shot on goal. It is easier to find fault with a striker’s game when they have only scored twice in 11 Premier League matches for a title-challenging team.
Inefficiency in front of goal has partly defined Jesus’ career in England. He is averaging just over a goal every three league games for the Gunners.
Goals are not the only currency that Jesus should be measured by. He is arguably the most adept link striker in the league now that Harry Kane plies his trade in the Bundesliga, and his tireless work-rate and excellent movement creates space for others.
On his day, Jesus can look like a world-beater, as was the case in Seville in October and in Luton last week. But is he the type of striker that Arsenal need?
“I watch his general play and it’s excellent,” Ally McCoist, the scorer of over 400 career goals, tells i. “He’s a very, very clever player but Arsenal have got lots of clever players. They’ve got Odegaard, different class, Havertz is a very clever player, Saka’s a very clever player. I’m not sure they need another clever player as a centre-forward.
“Haaland is the best in the business at this moment in time. I’m not doing him a disservice by saying he’s not a clever player of course he is, but all he wants to do is score goals. And I think they could do with somebody like that rather than another nice, clever player.”
Nketiah is a more ruthless finisher, averaging a goal every 166 minutes in the league this season compared to Jesus’ record of one every 334 minutes, but is more limited outside the box. Arteta doesn’t seem to trust him as a leading man either. Now 24, Nketiah has never started more than nine league matches across an entire Premier League season.
“I actually think if Nketiah got a run he might score more goals than Jesus,” McCoist, speaking on behalf of TNT Sports, says. “I’m not saying he’s a better player than Jesus as I don’t necessarily think he is but he might nick more goals.”
So if neither Jesus nor Nketiah are the perfect striker for Arsenal, who is? Judging by general social media buzz, plenty of Arsenal fans would endorse a January move for Brentford’s Ivan Toney, whose FA ban for gambling offences expires next month.
i has previously reported that Brentford have “no intention” of selling their talismanic 27-year-old in January, particularly given Bryan Mbeumo, fitness permitting, and Yoane Wissa will play in the Africa Cup of Nations. That situation could change in the summer when Toney enters the final 12 months of his contract.
” Ivan Toney would elevate them. There’s no doubt about that in my opinion,” McCoist says.
It is up to Jesus to prove in the coming months that Arsenal already have a difference-maker.
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