SETTABLOID

Arsenal are without a win in their last three matches and welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.

The second North London Derby comes at a difficult period for both clubs, with Spurs very inconsistent and currently 12th in the Premier League. The Gunners go into the clash having been knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United on penalties, despite dominating large periods.

“Incredible how you don’t win that game, that’s basically to sum up,” Mikel Arteta said afterwards. “The dominance, the superiority in relation to the opposition and everything that we did to try to win the game and that’s it we didn’t get what we deserved clearly.

“But there is an element that is about putting the ball in the back of the net that we did once and the amount of situations, chances, penalties that we had we didn’t. We go home extremely sad but I cannot be prouder of my players, the team, the individual collectively what they produced on Wednesday against two top teams it’s incredible. But we haven’t got rewarded and that’s the downside too.”

With plenty of first team regulars playing the full 120 minutes, Arteta may need to make a few changes to his side for the clash at Tottenham. The squad will likely have just the Tuesday to train together ahead of the derby and much may depend on how players react in the coming hours.

One star who looks set to miss the game is Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian was stretchered off in the first half and looks to have picked up a fresh knee injury. “Big worry, that’s my feeling,” Arteta said on the striker. “He had to come off on a stretcher with a lot of pain, touching his knee. It’s not looking good.”

The Gunners now face an anxious wait to find out the extent of the damage. It could mean one of Leandro Trossard or Raheem Sterling comes into the starting line-up, with both players coming off the bench against Man Utd on Sunday.

Arteta may also make two changes to his midfield. Declan Rice and Thomas Partey did not make the starting line-up against Ruben Amorim’s side but could replace Mikel Merino and Jorginho’s in Arteta’s midfield three.

Nico Williams has reportedly ‘chosen’ to join Arsenal from Athletic Bilbao having been ‘convinced’ by Mikel Arteta’s two ‘promises’.

Arsenal were vying for Williams‘ transfer in the summer along with Barcelona, but the star of Euro 2024 opted to stay with the Basque club for another season.

Reports in Spain now claim he’s now decided to leave the club to ‘play in the Champions League every year’.

Barcelona no longer see Williams as a priority amid the outstanding form of Raphinha for them on the left wing, opening the door to Premier League suitors.

It’s claimed Arteta has already made ‘contact’ with Williams – who has a €58m release clause – and his agent to ‘convince’ him to move to the Emirates, ‘promising’ the winger a ‘blank check’ and ‘untouchable’ status at the club.

Athletic Bilbao are unlikely to let Williams leave in the middle of the season despite Arteta’s apparent desire to bring him to the Emirates in January, as reported by transfer expert David Ornstein last week.

Arsenal could transform their season with one transfer following their FA Cup heartbreak defeat to Manchester United and it could happen in the final weeks of the January window, judging from the latest reports.

It has been a difficult two weeks or so for Mikel Arteta’s side who now find themselves down by a two-goal deficit in their EFL Cup semi-final with Newcastle United as well as drawing with Brighton and losing out to Man United over the weekend.

With the January transfer window in full swing, recent shortcomings on the pitch have led to more drastic transfer rumours – especially when it comes to attack. Reports have only been intensified since after striker Gabriel Jesus suffered an injury during the weekend’s action that looks set to rule him out for the foreseeable future.

With 32 goals and six assists in 30 games, he is seen as one potential solution to Arsenal’s attacking issues and a reputable, clinical forward to replace the likes of Jesus and Kai Havertz.

Gyokeres wouldn’t be available until the summer, leaving Arsenal scrambling around for a solution to their striker issues.

Rivals Man United supposedly do not have the funds to reunite their manager Ruben Amorim with his former player unless they manage to sell one of their attackers, such as Joshua Zirkzee which is unlikely at the current time.

A fee lying somewhere in the region of €60m (£49.8m, $62.2m) to €70m (£58m, $72.5m) was cited – with £80m being quoted in the latest Independent release. If he remains at the club until summer then Arsenal face a difficult end to the season and an uncertainty over whether they could acquire his signature.

Even if they have to wait until the summer to approach such a deal, there may be more attractive options on the table for the blossoming forward, who has been linked with moves to elite clubs all over Europe. Arsenal finishing without a trophy would leave them without true bargaining power, despite the stature of the club.

RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko has also been a name floated; the 21-year-old stunned at the weekend with a long-range striker against Werder Bremen which included a brilliant strike from 25 metres which had a speed of 126km/h. He too has been eyed by multiple elite clubs around Europe.

The winter transfer window is starting to gather pace as clubs attempt to shape their squads for what could be a crucial second half of the season throughout the Premier League table.

Arsenal still have one eye on catching Liverpool at the top of the league. There’s yet to however be any significant moves in the transfer market at the Emirates Stadium.

For Chelsea, eyes are on finishing the first season under Enzo Maresca in the Champions League positions. After a busy summer in terms of both incomings and outgoings, most of the talk so far is around players who could leave the club over the next few weeks.

Tottenham Hotspur have been the busiest of the three main London teams, with goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky being the most significant arrival. The former Slavia Prague man has kept two clean sheets in his two appearances for the club so far, underlining why he was signed.

He will look to help Spurs climb up the Premier League table in the second half of the season. Ange Postecoglou’s men currently sit in 12th spot.

It’s not just those London sides making moves in the window, with clubs all across the Premier League bringing in and letting players go.

Martin Odegaard has described his penalty miss against Manchester United as a “crucial moment” in the game, with the Arsenal captain admitting it’s “not good enough”.

The Gunners were knocked out of the FA Cup on Sunday after a thrilling third-round clash that went the full distance. United played half of the tie with 10 men when Diogo Dalot was dismissed moments after Bruno Fernandes had put the visitors ahead. Gabriel eq

Arsenal just could not find a way through Bayindir, who proved to be the hero in the penalty shootout when he saved Kai Havertz’s penalty. “It’s a really tough one,” Odegaard said afterwards, as per Arsenal’s official website.

“Really frustrating. I think we completely dominated the game from the first half until the end. We could have been a bit sharper in front of goal, in the last pass, the last shot. To lose that game at home when we dominated everything, it’s a tough one.”

The Gunners captain added: “It’s hard to say at the moment exactly why, but I think it’s small details; the last pass, the finish, the decision-making. Again, I think we did more than enough to win this game – I don’t know if they had a better chance than the goal and we created enough to score. Me with the penalty as well, that should have been a goal.

“It’s not good enough from me, I have to score that one. I think it was a crucial moment as well, so it was a tough one to take. That’s it.”

Arsenal’s January transfer plans may be forced to undergo drastic changes following Gabriel Jesus’ injury in the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United.

As well as a number of chances against United, the Gunners’ trouble in the final third regressed further with Jesus being forced off in the first-half. The Brazilian appeared to injure his knee, on two occasions, before being replaced by Raheem Sterling.

Mikel Arteta confirmed after the penalty shoot-out defeat that Jesus was in serious pain and admitted it wasn’t looking good. Despite it not being the same knee as his previous injury in 2022, there has been claimed by injury experts it could be an ACL injury.

The aftermath of the cup defeat has seen pressure fall on Arsenal on dipping into the transfer market. Arteta now has four first-team attackers available for selection meaning the need for reinforcements has grown.

A number of forwards have been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium. Centre-forwards Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres have been long-term targets while versatile wide attackers like Nico Williams and Ademola Lookman have all been mentioned.

Whichever target Arsenal decide to push with, they will cost a premium. However, some of them have release clauses that are there to be triggered. Athletic Bilbao superstar Williams has a release clause of around €60million (£50.4m) – a price that isn’t too high for a player of his quality.

Arsenal have seen another opportunity to end their near five-year trophy drought fall away.

Mikel Arteta’s team found themselves in an excellent position during Sunday’s FA Cup third-round clash at home to Manchester United. The Gunners played against 10 men for over an hour with the score at 1-1 but were unable to capitalise.

In the end, Arsenal were left disappointed again after losing on penalties. It followed last Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat at home to Newcastle in the Carabao cup semi-final first leg, leaving Arteta’s team with a mountain to climb if they are to reach the final.

Meanwhile, Arsenal remain six points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool in the title race having also played a game more than Arne Slot’s side.

Alexander Isak would be the dream signing. The Newcastle striker has Premier League experience, and at 24, he is only likely to get better. The Swedish forward is unlikely to get anywhere near the numbers Erling Haaland has got for Manchester City in previous seasons, but that may not matter if the Gunners can rediscover their defensive solidity.

Viktor Gyokeres would be an excellent alternative but his experience is outside of the Premier League. It’s likely that he would be a success in the top flight, but it feels less of a guarantee than Isak.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will be assessing the current state of his squad after crashing out of the FA Cup against Manchester United on Sunday.

While the defeat on penalties was crushing, the impact of a serious injury to Gabriel Jesus could be a more long-term worry. Arteta suggested he was concerned by the knee injury suffered by the Brazilian during the first half of the clash and, if bad, it could force the Gunners to make a move in the January transfer window.

Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap is one of the new names to be linked to Arsenal by Match of the Day host Gary Lineker. RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Galatasaray’s loanee Victor Osimhen also remain linked.

Meanwhile, there is understood to be interest from Palmeiras regarding a move for Italian midfielder Jorginho. His agent is thought to be holding conversations with the Brazilian club regarding a move.

Arsenal bowed out of the FA Cup in the third round for the second season running.

The Gunners went into the game in inconsistent form, having failed to win their previous two outings against Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion.

They had a mixed opening half against United, where they did not provide any significant attacking threat.

United pounced on a defensive mistake to score in the 52nd minute, but the Gunners got a huge advantage soon after with Diogo Dalot’s sending-off.

Gabriel Magalhaes made amends for his defensive error with the equaliser, but Arsenal failed to find the winner. Martin Odegaard missed a glorious chance from the penalty spot.

Declan Rice was twice denied by exceptional saves from Altay Bayindir. Kai Havertz had a day to forget. He missed two big chances before squandering a penalty in the shoot-out.

Havertz was undoubtedly the worst player on the pitch, but we were also disappointed with the performance of midfielder Mikel Merino before his 73rd-minute substitution.

The Spaniard started alongside Jorginho and Martin Odegaard in the centre of the park, but he had a poor outing with just 30 touches and 14 passes completed.

Merino lost 50 percent of his duels (5/10) and squandered possession on nine occasions.

The former Real Sociedad man received a 5/10 performance rating from football.london.

It was unsurprising that Rice replaced him. The Englishman had a greater influence in the game and could have scored if not for Bayindir’s heroics in the United goal.

Arsenal are facing another season under Mikel Arteta without silverware after the Gunners crashed out of the FA Cup against holders Manchester United on Sunday.

After the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in normal time and extra-time, United came out on top thanks to a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win. Kai Havertz missed the decisive spot-kick for Mikel Arteta’s men to knock the North Londoners out.

Following last week’s EFL Cup semi-final first leg defeat to Newcastle, defeat in the North London derby against Tottenham and a tough clash with Aston Villa at the weekend could see Arsenal’s season blow up within a matter of weeks.

Arteta’s men take on Spurs on Wednesday night before welcoming Unai Emery back to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening. After suffering with a number of injuries before the cup defeat, Arsenal are set to be without more players for the double-header.

Gabriel Jesus

Injury: Potentially a knee problem.

Jesus was forced off in the first-half against United after appearing to hurt his knee on two occasions. He was replaced by Raheem Sterling and looked in considerable pain as he left the field.

What Mikel Arteta has said: “Big worry, that’s my feeling. He had to come off on a stretcher with a lot of pain, touching his knee. It’s not looking good.”

Riccardo Calariori

Injury: Muscular.

Calafiori missed the visit of United altogether with a muscular issue after being an unused substitute in the defeat to Newcastle in midweek. He has now missed 13 games through injury this season.

What Mikel Arteta has said: N/A.

Possible return date: Unknown.

Bukayo Saka

Injury: Hamstring.

Saka suffered the injury during the win over Crystal Palace. He has since undergone surgery and confirmed that he has begun recovery.

What Arteta has said: “It’s not looking good. He’s going to be out for many weeks. Many [weeks]. I cannot be too specific because I don’t know but it will be many weeks.”

Potential return date: Unknown.