In most seasons if a team has a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League going into Christmas, you're on pretty safe ground declaring them as favourites to go on and win the thing. Not this year though.
If you were to ask most people, and even most Arsenal fans right now, they would probably back Manchester City to retain their title. The reason for that? City's incredible strength in depth.
By Mikel Arteta's own admission his Gunners squad are only a couple of absences away from being short. Thus far the fates have shone relatively kindly upon them in this department.
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The usually injury-prone Thomas Partey has stayed almost entirely healthy while layoffs for Emile Smith Rowe and Oleksandr Zinchenko haven't been to keenly felt due to the impressive displays of Gabriel Martinelli, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney. Now though it seems as though their thinness of their squad is truly going to be put to the test.
Although spirits in the squad still remain high, news that Gabriel Jesus could be out injured for as long as three months will undoubtedly have come as a blow. The 25-year-old has been essential to transforming the Arsenal from having the Premier League's sixth most potent attack last season to being the second highest scorers this time around.
In fairness to them the club have acted decisively to try and reduce the length of time Jesus is out for. It is protocol for Brazilians who are injured on World Cup duty to stay with the squad until the tournament, but it is understood that Edu used his good relationship with Tite and Brazil national team coordinator Juninho to ensure Jesus' immediate return to London for surgery.
While there is still no official timescale for his return, moving so swiftly will surely have helped his recovery.
The player is now at home and focused on recuperating as quickly as possible, and as things stand the plan is to have Eddie Nketiah come in to replace him. The 23-year-old has stepped up in the past and was impressive in the 3-0 win over Lyon in Dubai on Thursday, but beyond him the Arsenal forward options begin to look a little bare.
Arteta has not ruled out playing Martinelli up top, while Smith Rowe's return to fitness could provide more options, but both solutions have their issues. The Gunners will be competing on three fronts in the second half of next season, and you feel they would need a little more to do so successfully.
Perhaps then its something of a fortunate quirk that Jesus' injury has come before the January transfer window opens in three weeks' time. football.london understands that Arsenal are waiting till the end of the World Cup to finalise any transfer plans, but they are open to adding to the squad if the right player becomes available.
Arteta and Edu have held meetings with Stan and Josh Kroenke during the World Cup break and the Gunners' American owners have shown that they are willing to back the club with investment for players over the past couple of years.
As things stand, nothing is being ruled out, including the recalling of players like Flo Balogun who has impressed during his loan spell in Ligue 1 with Stade de Reims so far this season. Meanwhile external arrivals are also a possibility, with players like Mykhaylo Mudryk of Shakhtar Donetsk and Orlando FC's Facundo Torres having been linked.
There are of course other areas in the squad that Arsenal might look to strengthen in. One of these is central midfield where football.london understands a move for Palmeiras' Danilo could now be far more plausible after the Gunners missed out on him in the summer.
This January was always going to be huge for Arsenal and with their squad now being tested to the limit, it seems likely to take on an even greater significance. The Gunners are aware of the opportunity they have at their fingertips, and are ready to act if the market presents them with the right options.
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