MY ACCOUNT
Gabriel Jesus’ injury has the potential to derail Arsenal’s surprise Premier League title tilt — unless Eddie Nketiah can step up to fill the void.
Summer signing Jesus had been leading the line for Mikel Arteta’s men until he was injured while representing Brazil at the World Cup.
Nketiah is a promising young player but one who has not yet shown he is of title-winning calibre — and Arteta needs the Englishman to prove his worth.
Ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Brighton, we analyse the striker’s qualities.
Title challenge
City have won four of the last five Premier League titles — only an outstanding effort from Liverpool in 2019-20 has disrupted the all-conquering machine that Pep Guardiola has built.
Arsenal are in good shape and sit top of the league having taken 40 points from their opening 15 games.
But the Citizens have Erling Haaland spearheading their attack. The Norwegian is well-rested following his break for the World Cup and raring to go.
Coping with injury
Jesus’ injury was a real blow. The Brazilian has contributed five goals and five assists in 1,225 minutes of Premier League football and has been the focal point of everything the Gunners do in the final third.
He has been helped by Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka but his absence is felt as the central striker.
Martinelli, who usually plays off the left, is an option through the middle. But the most obvious candidate to replace Jesus is Nketiah and so far he has shown signs that he can step up.
The 23-year-old — wearing Thierry Henry’s No14 — started and scored for Arsenal in their 3-1 defeat of West Ham on Boxing Day.
‘A really confident boy’
Arteta — speaking after the win against the Hammers — backed Nketiah to deliver on his potential.
He said: “[Nketiah] is a really confident boy. But hopefully [the goal] can give him — if he had any doubts — more confidence about what he is capable of doing.
“His performance was really, really good and on top of that he scored a great goal.
“For Eddie and for the team, I think it was really important.”
Time to shine
London-born Nketiah joined Arsenal from Chelsea’s academy aged 16.
He made his first-team debut two years later and has contributed 27 goals and three assists in 112 games for the club. He also spent time on loan with Leeds — providing five goals and one assist in 19 games.
Nketiah has performed well in the Europa League and the Carabao Cup so far this season — scoring twice in the former and once in the latter. But he has found goals harder to come by in the Premier League.
He will hope that his account-opening strike against the Irons is just the first of many this term.
The business end
As we move into 2023, it is sink or swim for the Gunners and Nketiah.
If he can deliver in the weeks to come and help his side sustain their title challenge, it could prove to the world that he is finally ready to deliver on his vaunted potential.
The best way to do that would be to continue his goalscoring form when Arsenal visit the Amex.
It will not be an easy task with the seventh-placed Seagulls in strong form under Roberto De Zerbi but Nketiah must continue to prove his worth if the Gunners are to have any chance of winning the title.
