da betano casino： The Brazilian has never been a prolific goalscorer, but what should worry him now is how well his team-mates are playing without him
da mrbet： Gabriel Jesus has always had an admirable attitude when it comes to coping with injuries. "First day is sh*t," he once said, "but the day after, you realise you have to keep going, fighting and smiling."
One hopes that the striker is still smiling right now, because while his latest setback was far from serious, it was arguably as significant as any previous spell on the sidelines. While Jesus has bee out of action for the third time this season, Arsenal have been playing their best football for arguably a year, beating Premier League leaders Liverpool 3-1 to drag themselves right back into the title race before putting a combined 11 unanswered goals past West Ham and Burnley.
Consequently, Gary Lineker spoke for many supporters – including some of an Arsenal persuasion – when he argued on podcast that "it's questionable now where and whether Jesus will get back into" Mikel Arteta's starting line-up.
Getty Images'Jesus changed our world'
Of course, there are plenty of Gunners that would advocate putting Jesus straight back into the side to face Porto in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash on Wednesday were he available.
The versatile striker is an immensely popular figure at the Emirates, as much for his personality as his play. With his wonderful work rate and infectious enthusiasm, he quickly became a firm fan favourite following his move from Manchester City in the summer of 2022.
Arteta had signed Jesus for a reason, of course. The pair had worked together at the Etihad Stadium and the Spaniard was sure that the Brazilian was the kind of modern, multi-functional No.9 his side had been lacking.
It certainly looked that way early on, with Jesus scoring five goals and contributing four assists in his first nine Premier League appearances as Arsenal made a blistering start to the 2022-23 campaign. He had had an instant and transformative effect on his team-mates – or, as Arteta put it, "Jesus changed our world".
AdvertisementGettyIncessant injury issues
But then came the worrisome goal droughts and injury issues which are threatening to both characterise and derail his Arsenal career.
Jesus suffered a knee injury during Brazil's World Cup campaign in Qatar and ended up missing 12 Premier League games. He also felt "irritation" related to the original issue in August of last year, resulting in a minor operation that forced him to sit out the start of the current campaign.
A hamstring injury then kept him out of action for three games at the tail end of October and start of November, before he suffered his latest setback after a key contribution in the 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest on January 30, with Jesus scoring one goal and creating another.
Getty ImagesPathetic conversion rate
The stop-start nature of Jesus' time at Arsenal has obviously hindered his strike-rate in north London. All but the very best goalscorers need games to get back up to speed.
The problem for Jesus, though, is that even when he has enjoyed an extended run in the Arsenal starting line-up, he has never looked like a lethal finisher. There have been some hot streaks, but his shot conversion rate in the Premier League this season is a pathetic 9.76 per cent – which is not just vastly inferior to the English top-flight's most highly-rated strikers, such as Erling Haaland (21%) and Ollie Watkins (17.1%), but also awfully average attackers like Richarlison (17.9%) and Nicolas Jackson (14.6%).
Getty Images'I know my qualities'
Jesus has argued in the past that he isn't guilty of many glaring misses, and he has a point there. As per , he's only missed six 'big chances' this season, which would appear to support the claim that he doesn't get anywhere near as many clear sights of goal as the likes of Haaland and Darwin Nunez (21 big misses apiece) because so much of his game is taken up by creating space and openings for others – in much the same way his compatriot Roberto Firmino did for so many years at Liverpool.
"I know my qualities and I know what I can bring to the team," Jesus said amid reports of Arsenal lining up a January bid for Brentford's Ivan Toney. "I can score and I can also help with other things. But the only people who can see it are those who watch the game and understand."
However, it's worth noting that players such as Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min, who spend an awful lot of their time occupying wide positions, are both far more prolific than Jesus and far more efficient. Furthermore, for all the flak that Nunez cops, the unpredictable Uruguayan, who is often shifted out wide, has been directly involved in 16 Premier League goals this season – Jesus has contributed to just seven.
It's also telling that even while defending his poor end product, Jesus acknowledged himself that there is a need for him to get into the box more, revealing "that is the one thing I am working on", having previously confessed that scoring goals is not his "strong point".