Ivan Toney

History will repeat itself if Arsenal don’t sign a striker in January

It’s just under two weeks to go before the January transfer market opens and at the top of Arsenal’s shopping list is a striker. While January is a notoriously bad time to find the missing piece to a puzzle, Mikel Arteta has little option but to use the window given that as of matchday 16, Arsenal have scored the fewest goals out of the top five teams in the Premier League.

Fine margins likely to decide title race

The difference might be considered negligible as the Gunners have 35 and Manchester City, the team that has scored the most, have 40. However, the English top-flight title is decided on the finest of margins and it might only take a handful of crucial goals to determine the destination of the Premier League trophy in May.

Right now, Arsenal are having to rely on a sustainable amount of goals from midfield which is hurting their overall chances of winning the league.

This is a sentiment that is reflected in the latest outright Premier League winner betting markets with the Gunners at 7/2 to win their first title since 2004.

Arsenal fans who think that Arteta will bring in a goalscorer who will help the Gunners surge up the league table during the second half of the season can access this list of the best online betting sites in the UK which are offering new customers a welcome bonus of up to £40 which can be used on the Premier League outright market.

As things stand, the bookmakers on this list such as Bet365, Paddy Power and Betfair make City the favourites at 10/11. With Erling Haaland leading the line for Pep Guardiola’s charges, it’s easy to see why the markets back the defending Premier League champions.

Arsenal meanwhile, do not have the same put-your-house-on-it type of quality to rely on in front of goal.

Misfiring Gunners

While Gabriel Jesus’ availability remains an ongoing cause for concern and Eddie Nketiah continues to blow hot and cold, there is a genuine chance of history repeating itself if Arsenal don’t address this problem.

You only need to cast your mind back to a sun-drenched City Ground in May when Arsenal couldn’t break down a stubborn Nottingham Forest defence to recall how costly a toothless attack can be when there is no margin for error.

Indeed, a lack of firepower over 90 minutes on the banks of the River Trent ultimately ended Arsenal’s hopes of winning the league with City crowned champions once the full-time whistle was blown.

These are the types of circumstances that Arteta’s men will face once more when coming down the final stretch. Essentially, every team knows what is required of them at this stage of the season; whether it’s fighting relegation, trying to qualify for Europe or even vying to win the league, the defences that Arsenal are bound to come up against will offer more resistance with everything on the line.

To come out on the side of a positive result in these do-or-die situations, the Gunners will need to get the chequebook out once the new year is ushered in.

Rolling the dice in January

As touched on, the pickings are often slim in January, but two credible names that Arsenal are linked to are Dusan Vlahovic and Ivan Toney, with the latter said to be excited by the prospect of joining the Gunners.

It’s hard to think back to a January transfer market that has so much riding on it for Arsenal. Get it right and the Gunners could end their two-decade title wait. Get it wrong and the Gunners will shoot themselves in the foot for a second season in a row

Tags January transfer window

5 Comments

  1. If we’re being realistic the winter window is not the ideal time to get a significant signing, even the players you mentioned are likely not to be released by their clubs at the middle of the season, so I’ll advise you to adjust your expectations. And your assumptions of history repeating itself I will remind you even when we have a golden boot winning striker in our team we couldn’t even compete for top four and our title challenging team is built without a 30 goal striker in it.

  2. Talking about rolling the dice, it got to be a midfielder as the priority to minimize the risks.

    But like the big German, Vlohovic could rediscover his form at Arsenal under the gaffer and set the premier league on fire.

  3. Signing a clinical striker would really enhance our chances of potentially winning the PL and having a deep run in the champions league knockout stages, doesn’t look like we are going to buy one, however I do think the club will make two signings (Midfielder and defender) though.

  4. the title was gone well before the Forest game

    we effectively lost the title with the 3 draws in a row in April
    Liverpool 2-2
    West Ham 2-2
    Southampton 3-3

    in the first two we raced to an early 2 goal lead, Jesus scoring in both, to then bottle it conceding

    goal scoring was not our problem, it was conceding that killed us – the Saliba injury a big part of that

    Arteta has learned from that and you can see our system this year is starving our opponents of opportunities – if we had that defensive performance last year then might look very different now

    after those 3 draws in a row Arsenal was rattled, conceding 4 in the very next game

    so it was not a striker that cost us last season

    this season we are much improved to avoid that 4 game run in April where we took 3 points from 12

    but the risk of injury to Saliba, Gabriel or Rice could easily de-rail that, again we face a downgrade in quality if injured so I think wise and sensible to look to Central Defence and Defensive Midfield in January over any thoughts of a striker

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