Why Arsenal must start Gabriel Jesus vs. Crystal Palace

Gabriel Jesus netted a superb hat-trick midweek against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, and now Mikel Arteta must unleash him in the league.

Arsenal v Crystal Palace - Carabao Cup Quarter Final
Arsenal v Crystal Palace - Carabao Cup Quarter Final | Marc Atkins/GettyImages

Gabriel Jesus scored a hat-trick for Arsenal against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, but will Mikel Arteta start him again at the weekend?

Continuity is all footballers crave, and for Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus, that has been hard to come by over the last 18 months...but now he might get his chance.

In Arsenal's 3-2 win over Crystal Palace in which Jesus scored a superb hat-trick as he wound back the clock, he played a pivotal role in sending the Gunners into the semi-finals against Newcastle.

But now comes a big question and one we don't have to wait too long to find out - should Jesus start against Palace in the league at the weekend?

Personally speaking, its a no-brainer.

Jesus had been in and out of the side, and while his two missed chances against Monaco in the Champions League were poor, he then bounced back against Palace after a so-so first half.

Confidence has been restored, and sometimes, that's all a player needs, and now Jesus has it in spades. The last thing Mikel Arteta wants to do it drain it by sitting him on the bench in favor of Kai Havertz.

"Yeah well he brings something, he has that quality, he has a way of creating, generating situations that is quite unique, Gabby at that level obviously is a big asset," Arteta said via arsenal.com on if Jesus can be a game-changer.

Gabriel Jesus
Arsenal v Crystal Palace - Carabao Cup Quarter Final | Marc Atkins/GettyImages

After his nightmare against Monaco, Arteta stated that he would continue to put Jesus in the position to take chances, and he did against Palace, but that was in a cup competition.

Will the Spaniard trust him in the league when the margin for error is already small? Again, it's a no-brainer. Of course, he should.

Having drawn their last two Premier League outings, dropping four points in the process, Jesus will give the front line an extra spark.

Plus, there's a mental element to this, too. One for Arsenal is to keep Jesus on the field while he's in good form and take advantage of it for as long as possible. The other is the mind game it could create with Palace.

Having just seen the Brazilian rip through their defense in a brutal second-half showing, the prospect of coming up against that for the second time in a couple of days is nightmare fuel.

Fresh off a hat-trick, there's no doubt that Jesus smells blood in the water at Selhurst Park.

Let him loose, Mikel.

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