After getting knocked out of the FA Cup, Arsenal are preparing to take on Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night and to make matters worse, Gabriel Jesus is ruled out with an ACL injury.
The forward’s recent seasons have ruined by constant injury woes and he now picked up a season-ending ACL injury during Arsenal’s loss to Man United on Sunday.
Jesus was stretchered off the pitch at the weekend and the club has now confirmed that he will undergo surgery. Surgery means Gabriel Jesus has a long road to recovery and he now joins Ben White, Tomiyasu, Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri on the injured list.
The Gunners are already working with a very small squad and now that three key attackers are missing, we can clearly see their season crumbling within the next couple of weeks.
Ange Postecoglou has already made it clear that he has little to no sympathy regarding Arsenal’s injury woes and we firmly believe that the failure to name their strongest attacking trio will lead to Arsenal’s undoing in the North London Derby.
“I don’t know, how much sympathy have they all had for me? I’m not really sure…” Postecoglou has told the press.
“I certainly have empathy, that’s probably a better word. I understand how challenging it is for any team, irrespective of the size or quality.”
Bukayo Saka has been the primary right-winger for Arsenal and immediately after his hamstring injury, the Gunners have seen a major slump in form. Saka has made 15 goal contributions in just 16 EPL matches this season but without him, Arsenal have massively struggled to find the back of the net.
Now, with Gabriel Jesus also out of the equation, all the goal-scoring responsibilities will fall on Havertz’s shoulders. Last season, Kai Havertz was in peak form but in the previous couple of matches, the German international has missed absolute sitters. Against NUFC and Manchester United, he missed three major chances, and by and large, Arsenal were knocked out of two cup tournaments due to his poor finishing skills.
Spurs will be without key defenders such as Cristian Romero and Van de Ven but thankfully, Dragusin and Archie Gray have done fairly well in recent matchweeks. The pair had a wonderful outing vs Liverpool and if they can come up with a similar performance in the derby then Arsenal will be in all sorts of trouble.
Havertz, Martinelli and Leandro Trossard will hopefully start as the front-three in midweek and since Arsenal are going into the NLD at the back of some dismal form, we doubt if these three will be able to break down Tottenham’s backline.