Gabriel Jesus: Has Mikel Arteta found Arsenal's "spark" for Premier League title race?

The Brazilian had not scored at the Emirates for over a year before firing his side to the semi-finals with all three goals in Wednesday's 3-2 triumph, although one would likely have been ruled offside had the VAR been in operation.

Despite his midweek masterclass, Jesus has not scored in the Premier League since the end of January, while Kai Havertz has struck just once in his last eight top-flight appearances and has failed to net in each of his last three in the competition.

Havertz and his fellow attackers were largely ineffective in recent draws with Fulham and Everton, and while Watts believes that Arsenal could survive without another number nine for the remainder of the season, he would like a game-changing left-winger or playmaker to arrive next month.

"I would love a clinical goalscorer, a top striker to come in, I just think that's going to be quite hard in January," Watts told Sports Mole. "I still look at it and wonder if it's something else they need to add to their attack so it's going to really change things - another playmaker, mercurial type of guy. That Everton defence at the weekend, you could have had Erling Haaland playing at number nine and I don't think he wins that game for Arsenal, because the creativity wasn't there, the chances weren't being created.

"So hard" for Arsenal to sign top striker in January

"Another real top quality option on the left-hand side to potentially play opposite Saka, or another player similar to Odegaard and Nwaneri in those central positions that can just do something out of nothing, win a game out of nothing or create a chance out of nothing, I still feel like that might be the better option in January and then get whoever you get in the summer when it comes to your striker.

"I just think it's going to be so hard to find a real top quality number nine in January. Is there someone out there? Can you find yourself someone who's going to come on and just add that spark to that final third that can really turn things around? Whether that be a left wing or more of a playmaker I don't know, but that's where I am when I look at how Arsenal can improve for the second half of the season."

When Arsenal ran Manchester City incredibly close in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 Premier League title races, the Gunners adopted a gung-ho approach under Mikel Arteta, netting a club-record 91 goals last term and ending the campaign as the second-highest scorers behind Pep Guardiola's team.

However, Arsenal's tally of 29 goals in 16 matches means that they are only the fifth-best attacking team in the division this season, and with an average of 1.81 goals per game this season, they are on track to score just 69 times in the 2024-25 Premier League.

Havertz and Bukayo Saka lead the way in Arsenal's Premier League scoring charts with just five each, while Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard have managed just three apiece, contributing to Arsenal sitting six points behind Liverpool in the top-flight table having played a game more.

Watts: 'An air of frustration around Arsenal again'

Nevertheless, Watts has insisted that the Gunners must not be ruled out of the title race just yet, but their hopes will "drift away" rapidly if they produce similar toothless performances to their one against Everton.

"I thought they were still in it before last weekend," Watts added. "They're not further behind now, so I can't say they're not they're not in it, but they won't be in it unless they find a way to improve this form and quickly. Chelsea have got all the momentum at the moment - when I looked at this run of fixtures, you felt Arsenal have a real opportunity here to get some momentum, and it started well.

"They'd started scoring goals, winning games, but then this last week Fulham and Everton has just ground that momentum to a halt. It would have been so different if they'd got six points from those two games, they'd be breathing down Liverpool's necks, you can just imagine the atmosphere around the place would be completely different and they'd be really buzzing for what's to come over the festive period.

"But now you've got that air of frustration around the club again and the momentum's died down, you've seen Chelsea steal a march on them, seen Liverpool drop points and not take advantage, so the next few games are really really important for Arsenal. We don't know what's going on with Liverpool at the moment, they have dropped a couple of points in recent games, will that impact their momentum? Is there a defeat just around the corner for Liverpool?

"You just don't know, so you've got to stay believing that you've got an opportunity. There's a long way to go, but Arsenal have to play better than they've played in the last two weeks. They can't continue to struggle to break these teams down, you've got to find a way to do it because the games will just drift away and it will happen very very quickly."

Arsenal are no strangers to pulling off scarcely believable title comebacks, as the Arsene Wenger team of 1997-98 were 12 points behind Manchester United at the end of February, only to overhaul the deficit en route to their first-ever Premier League title triumph.

'Missed opportunities littered everywhere for Arsenal'

Arteta's current crop also responded to a disappointing end to 2023 with an explosive start to 2024, winning 16 of their first 18 Premier League matches in the current calendar year, but Watts can only see "missed opportunities littered everywhere" as he reflected on Arsenal's 18 dropped points already this term.

"They've left themselves barely any room for error," Watts added. "They can go on that sort of run, we saw it last season, it can happen. They've done it in each of the last two seasons - the first one was when they started like a train for the first half and then the second season it was they finished like a train for the second half. They can put it together, but the way they're playing at the moment doesn't suggest that there's one of those runs just around the corner, they suggest there's going to be other dropped points.

"They've just got to find some sort of form and very very quickly, because you can't feel sorry for yourselves. Liverpool have set that sort of pace that leaves you with very, very little room for error. They've dropped points in eight games so far this season, and you look back at those games and the way they've dropped those points, and it's just massive missed opportunities littered everywhere around them.

"It's added to what's going on at Manchester City at the moment; Arsenal been so good for the last few seasons and they still haven't got themselves over the line because City have just been unbelievable. I think the added frustration for Arsenal now is they're seeing City all over the place, and yet it still doesn't look like they're going to be able to take advantage of it. They've made their own mistakes, they've allowed Liverpool to have this lead, but it doesn't look like they're really going to surrender it."

Following the midweek cup triumph over Oliver Glasner's Palace, Arsenal seek to kickstart a Premier League revival when they head to Selhurst Park for another London derby date with the Eagles on Saturday evening.

Written by

Ben Knapton