Arsenal are in a really positive mood and nothing is going to stop them from blowing teams away with ease.
That has been proven since returning from the winter break because they have scored for fun, with 16 goals to their name, including slapping Burley for five on Saturday.
All of that has quietened down talk about Mikel Arteta needing a striker, but John Barnes feels it will rear its ugly head again in March and April, as he told Premier League Productions (17/02/24 at 5:10 pm).
The Liverpool legend doesn’t think it will bode well for Arsenal and they will ‘fall short’, with his doubts over Eddie Nketiah and how he won’t be able to fire them to the title.
The 24-year-old has been a bit-part player this season, scoring only five goals from 23 league matches, with three of those coming against bottom-of-the-table, Sheffield United.
You would assume the Hale-End academy product, alongside the currently injured Gabriel Jesus, will be called upon again this season, and if they can answer that call, then it seriously increases their club’s chances of becoming chances of England again.
But as John Barnes touched upon, you can only go by what is happening right now and they are doing ‘fantastically well’.
Will Arsenal win the Premier League title?
“They are spreading the goals around,” said Barnes. “When you are playing well and full of confidence anyone can score, as they are showing here.
“But as I said, come March and April, then all of a sudden, you’re not really scoring goals because these aren’t regular goalscorers when you can say ‘we have a centre-forward to score goals’, is it going to be Nketiah? Not necessarily. I think that’s where they will fall down short.
“But, at this moment in time, they are doing fantastically well.”
Mikel Arteta’s trust in his squad
This isn’t a case of one player taking all the limelight and trying to ensure that Arsenal score all the goals, but spreading them around.
Just like last season, the same is happening this term, with Bukayo Saka already on 12 for the campaign and on course to beat the 14 he netted in 2022/23.
Then there is Leandro Trossard, an underrated squad player. Add to that list, Gabriel Martinelli. He started the season in a pretty quiet fashion, but now Arsenal fans are starting to see the best of him.
The same could be said for captain Martin Odegaard, with that opening goal at Turf Moor a prime example of how he too is at his best.
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