The way Arsenal have coped with Gabriel Jesus’ absence shows that their Premier League title challenge is unlikely to be derailed by injuries, says New York Times journalist Rory Smith.
“The injury at the start of the season that you thought they wouldn’t be able to cope with has happened, Smith said on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club.
“Gabriel Jesus looked like the player who turned them from a team competing to be in the Champions League into title challengers.
“Jesus comes in, Arsenal suddenly get loads better – so you say Jesus has completed the puzzle for Mikel Arteta. He gets injured, we all assume there will be a problem – that they won’t be able to score goals, that the attack won’t work as well. They have ridden it out.
“The change in north London is partly that Spurs have fallen a bit and are still competing to finish fourth, whereas Arsenal have just put their foot right down on the accelerator and sped off into the distance.
“The threat to Arsenal is that they have to play Manchester City twice, and if City beat them twice then the gap is two points.
“That’s the thing that happens that means maybe they don’t walk to the title, but in terms of injuries, I’m not sure there is one there that would necessarily derail them.”
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