Injuries? No problem — Arsenal’s new boys give gunners serious depth

Injuries to Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka in the 5-0 thumping of Leeds United at the Emirates yesterday would have been just the excuse needed to write off another title-less Arsenal season. Not any more.

Andrea Berta's dealings in the transfer window have ensured that Arsenal can cope with injuries to pretty much any player – up to a point.

Despite a slow start against Manchester United, Viktor Gyokeres is up and running. Hs two goals against Leeds will be just the tonic that he needs going into the crunch match with Liverpool next Sunday.

It could be argued that Gyokeres might not have started the Leeds match had Kai Havertz been available. Havertz picked up an injury after coming on as substitute for Havertz against Manchester United at Old Trafford last Sunday.

An injury to Havertz would have been alarming

In recent years, an injury to Havertz would have set the alarm bells ringing. With Gabriel Jesus injured and Havertz out, Arsenal would have been resorting to a make-shift number nine like Mikel Merino or Leandro Trossard. Those days are long gone. Arsenal have serious depth. Enter Gyokeres.

It's not just in the number nine position that Arsenal are stacked either. On the left, Mikel Arteta was able to drop Gabriel Martinelli who has started the season poorly after having a mediocre pre-season.

In came Noni Madueke, who perhaps should have started at Old Trafford, for his home debut in the Premier League. It could just have easily been Trossard or even Myles Lewis-Skelly who lined up on the left side of attack. Fast-forward a week or so and you could add Eberechi Eze to that tasty menu.

Few teams could cope with the loss of Saka – Arsenal can

Few teams could cope with the loss of Bakayu Saka. He is for Arsenal what Salah is for Liverpool. Irreplaceable. However, that argument cannot be made anymore. Saka's out. Deal with it, Arsenal.

Now, they can. Madueke has been bought for exactly this reason. He can easily and effectively cover for Saka on the right hand side with a minimum of negative impact. The emergence of Max Dowman and the new contract offered to Ethan Nwaneri offers other exciting alternatives for Arteta to explore should he need to. Again, Eze could be deployed on the right - or even Trossard. Arsenal are stacked for options.

But what about Odegaard? He's picked up a shoulder injury and is a doubt for the trip to Liverpool next Sunday. Of course, that will be a blow to Arsenal. Of course, that's not good news. As captain, Odegaard brings more to the team than just what he offers in the number 10 role.

Arsenal are stacked for options – literally all over the park

However, again Arsenal are stacked for options. The obvious replacement is Nwaneri. His youthful energy, dribbling and shooting is a counterpoint to Odegaard's style. Other options include some of those already mentioned. Eze is the most likely candidate to play in that central attacking position in the long-term, but the Liverpool game could arrive too soon for that to happen at Anfield.

Declan Rice could be pushed further forward with Christian Norgaard coming into the midfield alongside Martin Zubimendi. That's a midfield to compete with any in the world and it's not even Arsenal's first choice.

It may be too early to describe Arsenal as title favourites. Liverpool and Manchester City should have a lot to say about that in the coming months. However – the phrase 'injury crisis' won't be used to excuse Arteta this season. Odegaard, Saka, and Havertz are injured. So what?