Arsenal’s ten-day old spell ended happily. It’s funny how quickly football can change, isn’t it?
After playing against Brentford and dropping points against Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Gunners had a chance to make things right when they faced Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday evening.
That said, on paper, this doesn’t look like the simple assignment we did last week. Mikel Arteta’s men lacked confidence and Spurs were now led by Igor Tudor after Thomas Frank was sent off.
However, the result certainly made things look easy. Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres kept the game going as Arsenal proved that North London is indeed red, beating their arch-rivals 4-1 to open a five-point gap at the top of the Premier League once again.
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Against Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup, Arsenal were expected to field Myles Lewis-Skelly in the middle of the park but an injury in preparation for Riccardo Calafiori meant that the youngster was switched to left back. Bukayo Saka started in midfield.
It looked like an inspired decision and one that Arteta repeated at Molineux a few days ago. While the England star did find the net, Arsenal lacked quality in wide areas and looked out of ideas in the final third.
All that changed against Spurs. Saka was back on the right, Leandro Trossard was back on the left and Eze got a rare start in the Premier League.
Indeed, it was the 27-year-old’s second league start of 2026 after he was withdrawn at half-time in the 1-1 draw with Brentford.
On this occasion, the former Crystal Palace man played like a man with a point to prove. Speaking after the game, Arteta said: “He was upset, and me, because I didn’t play him one day from the start, with some of the decisions I made. I’m starting to understand how we’re going to get the best out of him now.”
Well, he certainly didn’t get upset at the end of this one. At full-time, Eze and his manager shared a warm welcome after the summer signing scored two more goals against Spurs to add to his hat-trick against the Lilywhites at the end of 2025.
The collaboration with Eze and Gyokeres has worked well and it looks like the manager has found a way to profile both of them. The truth is that he played the most important role in Sweden when he opened and ran the channels. It worked brilliantly.
The striker also scored two goals and now looks set to make a run at English football after his move from Sporting in the summer.
Gyokeres has scored eight goals in his last 12 games. No player in the Premier League has scored more goals than him in all competitions this calendar year.
The biggest flop? Think again. The centre-forward now looks to be an Arsenal player.
What Gyokeres’ form means for Arsenal’s squad
The Swedish international could not walk easily in the colors of Arsenal, far from it. After that draw against Wolves last Wednesday, it meant that Gyokeres has failed to score a single goal in 60% of his league appearances since signing.
Well, that’s how the narrative turned on Sunday. While he improved in 2026, this was his best performance in the famous red and white to date. Not only did he score two goals, but he also had the most touches (41) ever in a Premier League game. Speaking of introducing myself at last.
This run of form, however, is certainly bad news for Arsenal’s third-earner, Gabriel Jesus.
Returning home on £265k-a-week, the Brazilian has put in a couple of strong performances since returning from a long-term injury. He scored twice against Inter Milan and was on the scoresheet against Wigan a week ago in the cup.
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However, the truth of the matter is that Jesus is not as cruel as Gyokeres. His skill may be beautiful to the eye and very entertaining to watch but he looks far away in most games now.
The 28-year-old has found the net just twice in 11 league games and the truth is, he looks done in an Arsenal shirt now.
His coming off the bench against Wolves last week seemed to reinforce this fact, with the former Manchester City man spurning a stunning chance to give Arsenal all three points.
Jesus received a pass on the left and instead of driving towards goal or providing an assist, the ball got stuck under his feet. Within seconds of that incident, Wolves had scored an equalizing goal and the Gunners lost important points in the title race.
|
The work of Gabriel Jesus in England |
||
|---|---|---|
|
The season |
Games |
Goals |
|
2016/17 |
11 |
7 |
|
2017/18 |
42 |
17 |
|
2018/19 |
47 |
21 |
|
2019/20 |
53 |
23 |
|
2020/21 |
43 |
14 |
|
2021/22 |
41 |
13 |
|
2022/23 |
33 |
11 |
|
2023/24 |
36 |
8 |
|
2024/25 |
27 |
7 |
|
2025/26 |
18 |
5 |
There have been too many times for Jesus to be like minded since he returned to the first team and those coming off the bench are not talking about the player who can help Arsenal win the league this season.
When he arrives, he doesn’t have the same physicality and defensive ability that Gyokeres does. He loses the ball easily and doesn’t press like his teammates in attack.
A lot was promised to Jesus when he first arrived at the Emirates Stadium. He has certainly had a better start to life in north London than their current no.14, scoring five times in his first eight league games.
That level of play has abandoned him and with Gyokeres finally up to speed at Arsenal, it’s bad news for Jesus. Combine that with the promising return of Kai Havertz in recent weeks and the future looks bleak for the Brazilian in the English capital. If they both stay fit from now until the end of the season, there’s no reason not to start them.
Don’t expect the Gunners to come next season.
Like Eze and Gyokeres: The £45m star had his best game for Arsenal vs Spurs
Arsenal won 4-1 against Spurs on Sunday evening.
