Arsenal have scored 39 Premier League goals so far this season. Only Liverpool have scored more.
In the last two seasons only Manchester City have outgunned the Gunners in front of goal. Probably not a coincidence that Liverpool are six points ahead of them this season and City beat them to the title in both the previous campaigns.
There’s still a feeling that they lack the real firepower to win a major trophy this season. They need that game changing forward to take the burden off Bukayo Saka and turn draws into wins. That’s the only way they’ll end their trophy drought.
Being second best in goals means Arsenal are second best in the table. But if we can all see that then how come Mikel Arteta and supposed sporting director genius Edu haven’t yet?
Because this was a topic of conversation in the three transfer windows. Yet as Arsenal prepare to play Manchester United tomorrow in the FA Cup third round, they seem no nearer to buying a striker.
(Image: Alex Burstow/Getty Images)
Kai Havertz is just two shy of his 14-goal tally from last season to show he is improving as a front man. But even injury-hit Alexander Isak has outscored him by three already and if he was fit all season would have many more. Gabriel Jesus is not prolific.
Liverpool don’t have a No 9 scoring for fun but they have Mo Salah breaking goalscoring records and as good as Saka is, he’s not on the Egyptian’s level just yet.
Arsenal’s failure to sign a striker last January cost them and it will be just as expensive in this window to their trophy hopes if they fail to do it again.
But why it wasn’t addressed in the summer when they were out signing a midfielder in Mikel Merino and a defender in Riccardo Calafiori is beyond us.
(Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
The jury is still out on both. A bona-fide striker would have been a surer investment. It’s not always the quantity of goals that’s the problem for Arsenal. When they’re on top, they can often turn teams over by three or four.
But this season they’ve not been as creative which means missing chances is more costly. Arteta is understood to have told club officials in the summer he was not desperate for a striker and was happy for money to be spent elsewhere in the squad.
This is worrying but also if the sporting department is working correctly then they should be telling him otherwise. Their lack of a ruthless finisher to turn tight games or take the chances like in their Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle in midweek is going to cost them again this season.
Unless the cheque book comes out in the next few weeks then Arsenal are likely to end another season empty handed. Eventually it will catch up on Arteta. Stop blaming the balls and buy someone.
DYCHE DESERVES RESPECT
It must have turned nasty between Sean Dyche and Everton over the last week or so. Because there wasn’t one word of thanks in the club’s statement about his sacking.
That cannot simply be an oversight. The time was right for Dyche to go but let’s not kid ourselves thinking he failed at Goodison Park. He arrived midway through his first season and kept them in the Premier League. He repeated the feat in his second season amid points deductions and the drama around them,
(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
That was while he was – as he said himself – juggling sand trying to build a squad on a shoestring budget while players of value were being sold. Dyche deserves huge respect for the work he did at Everton, even if the football became hard to watch by the end and the results stopped giving him any defence to keep his job.
There should have been more respect than four paragraphs in a club statement. It leads us to believe that the relationship with the club and new owners The Friedkin Group had completely soured.
ONSIDE
Darren Ferguson. Sentimentality is great but Peterborough had a game to win. It wasn’t time to bring Tyler Young on to play against dad Ashley at Everton.
OFFSIDE
It’s FA Cup third-round weekend. Bet you wish your weekend ran from Thursday to Monday. Schedule ruining the Cup.