Gabriel Jesus has emerged in the past week with one of the most miraculous returns to form that any Arsenal fan has seen. Five goals in two games that could very well have been seven were it not for the post and a good save that led to Gabriel Martinelli eventually scoring the Gunners’ fourth at Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon.
He now looks like an undisputed member of the starting eleven. After his hat-trick against Crystal Palace in the League Cup, many thought ahead of both back-to-back clashes with the south London side that were Kai Havertz fully rested in midweek, he’d come back into the centre-forward role at the weekend.
However, Arteta simply could not ignore the form of Jesus and instead Havertz went into midfield with Declan Rice having only completed one training session held back. He would later come on and score a brilliant goal from range.
This presents a conundrum for the Arsenal manager and with the added frustration of Bukayo Saka being injured for an extended period after suffering a hamstring issue, the options up top appear to have suddenly slimmed. It could therefore be that as soon as Jesus earns back his striker role, he loses it.
One reason could be is that Arteta uses Jesus himself as the right-wing replacement for Saka. It is a position he has played in many times throughout his career for both Arsenal and Manchester City.
In fact, in the 28 games he has played there, he has scored eight and assisted 10 meaning a goal contribution rate better than one-in-two. However, in the four appearances he has made there for Arsenal, he has been unable to register either a goal or an assist.
