3 times when the international break haunted Arsenal

2. Gabriel Jesus (2022/23)

A much more recent inclusion and one that, somehow, did not hamper our progress.

Last season could not have started any better for Arsenal: just one loss in their first 19 matches, top of the league by five points and playing a sensational brand of football. It seemed nothing could blow the Gunners machine off course until the spanner that was Qatar 2022 came along.

Gabriel Jesus, who had formed a key part of our sudden rise, picked up a seemingly innocuous injury in Brazil’s final group game against Cameroon and was substituted shortly after the hour mark. He would not appear on the pitch again for three months.

Despite fears that his absence would derail our title ambitions, we marched on impressively and claimed 29 points from the next 13 games, only to fall at the final hurdle (still don’t want to talk about it).

Continued on the next slide…