Who needs Gabriel Jesus? Eddie Nketiah is on FIRE

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 22 Jan 2023 19:47 GMT
• 4 min read

When Gabriel Jesus sustained a serious knee injury at the World Cup, Arsenal fans feared for their Premier League title hopes.

Jesus sustained a meniscus injury for Brazil during their 1-0 defeat to Cameroon in their final group game.

The attacker was not only ruled out for the rest of the tournament but until March at the earliest. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta clarified earlier this week he would not return until “the final months of the season.”

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Most supporters and neutrals - even if they didn’t publicly admit it - felt deep down that Jesus’ injury would see Arsenal fall away from their perch at the top of the Premier League table.

Jesus had until then been a wonderful signing for Arsenal, having arrived from Man City last summer. He set the tone for everything that Arsenal did well before the World Cup. He pressed from the front perfectly and made it extremely difficult for the opposition to get out.

His movement and link-up play was superb, while despite standing at just 5ft 9in his hold-up play and his work with his back to goal was very impressive.

But there is one thing that was still missing from Gabriel Jesus’ game – goals.

Gabriel Jesus' lack of goals

Heading into the World Cup, Jesus went nine games without scoring for Arsenal (plus three more for Brazil in Qatar).

His replacement at Arsenal since his injury, Eddie Nketiah, has actually outscored Jesus comfortably this season.

Nketiah now has nine goals in 25 games - 13 of them starts - in 2022-23. Jesus has five in 20 appearances - 16 of them starts. Nketiah has also played less minutes.

Jesus does have more assists - six to one - and is clearly a much better all-round player than Nketiah.

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But when it comes to goals and results, Arsenal have not missed Jesus at all. There were calls for Arsenal to go out and sign someone in January to fill in for Jesus. Arteta has chosen not to and it has paid off.

Nketiah has seven goals in his last seven games in the absence of Jesus.

And he was the hero on Sunday as he scored twice in the 3-2 win over Man Utd, including the last minute winner to take Arsenal five points clear of Man City with a game in hand.

Arsenal sit top of the table and genuinely look like they are capable of going all the way and winning their first Premier League title since 2004.

Nketiah is proving to be every bit as important to this title challenge as Jesus.