Liverpool legend Steve Nicol says this Arsenal striker is not to be trusted during title chase

At the moment it seems like everything is coming up roses in North London, but the toughest road is still ahead and according to one Premier League legend there is still plenty of uncertainty surrounding one key figure up front.

Another narrow win for Gunners

The Gunners took three vital points in the London Derby over the weekend, but the performance was overall underwhelming. The victory over Chelsea has Arsenal five points clear of Manchester City, although Pep Guardiola´s side has a game in hand. It was a 2-1 victory that once again needed a set piece goal to save the day, and according to former Liverpool right back, Steve Nicol, the derby brought up more questions than answers.

“In terms of the game, I didn’t think Chelsea turned up until the 45th minute. They didn’t contribute anything going forward in the first half other than the own goal,” said Nicol analyzing the match on ESPN. “The second half was completely different. Mikel Arteta would have expected Arsenal to start the second half like they started the match, but they didn’t do it. That would be the worrying thing for me, that Arsenal didn’t have an answer when it got a little bit pressurised. Even when Chelsea had ten men, Arsenal didn’t control the ball.”

After giving up the equalizer in the second minute of stoppage time to close out the first half, Arsenal took the lead on a Jerrien Timber goal off a corner kick in the second half, but the response from Arteta´s squad after the break was bleak. The Gunners failed to control the match, and even after Pedro Neto was sent off just moments after the 2-1, Chelsea had their opportunities to press despite being a man down.

Record setting pace from corners

Nicol didn´t just point out striker Viktor Gyökeres, but had especially critical words for the Norwegian striker among the recent shortcomings of the Arsenal attackers. “Gabriel Martinelli had one run against Chelsea, Leandro Trossard is not doing anything on that left-hand side, Bukayo Saka has pretty much disappeared recently and Gyokeres got a couple of goals the other week but you can’t trust him,” claimed the Scot.

The Norwegian is in his debut season at the Emirates, and is leading Arsenal in goals with 15 goals in all competitions. He leads the squad with 10 in the Premier League, including a brace in the North London derby a couple weekends ago. In Champions League, he has scored four, just two behind Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli who has a team leading six goals in Europe´s top competition.

Timber´s goal was the 16th goal from a corner kick in the league campaign, which puts them par with the Premier League record, level with Oldham Athletic in the 1992-92 season, West Brom in 2016-17 and Arsenal in 2023-24. That makes up more than a quarter of their 58 goals scored this season. The record is surely to be broken, but how long can Arsenal keep relying on the set piece to save them?

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