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Patience has worn thin for Viktor Gyokeres after yet another blank versus Brighton and a bad miss in the opening minutes of that match.
His poor shot, rolled tamely into the arms of Bart Verbruggen, leaves him on just five Premier League goals from 15 appearances (two of which came via penalties) and amplifies the desire to get Gabriel Jesus or Kai Havertz back in as first-choice striker.
For all of his supposed ready-made quality – as both an experienced pro and one with a decent track record in English football – Gyokeres is finding it hard to thrive in an Arsenal shirt and his troubles are made clear by a damning statistic that has been doing the rounds on social media in the hours since the Brighton win.
Shared by @PureAngles, the Swede ranks worst among all Arsenal strikers in the Premier League era for non-penalty G/A after their first 1,000 minutes. His three goals are fewer than the much-maligned Marouane Chamakh (five) and pale in comparison to some of his current teammates including Mikel Merino and the aforementioned Havertz (9 and 14 respectively).
Damning statistic shows how much Viktor Gyokeres has toiled up front for Arsenal this season
It is, admittedly, a niche stat and only takes into account the players’ numbers when operating as the CF – that is why Merino and Havertz come out so favourably. One might also consider how Gyokeres is adapting to a league of much higher standards than that of Liga Portugal and so allowances should be made for his toils.
Especially given the many injury problems for his supporting cast in 2025/26 and the impact of Mikel Arteta’s system on any frontline productivity; indeed, his meagre tally of five makes him top scorer at Arsenal in the league.
But there remains a bigger issue here vis-à-vis his minimal impact up top and the responsibility that he himself bears for it. Gyokeres does not always find himself in the right positions to capitalise on a good ball into the box, often finding it hard to keep up with play after dropping deep to facilitate the build-up beforehand.
Furthermore, he can only look inward to solve the problem of snatching at chances; he made a mess of his early chance on Saturday while, against both Leeds United and West Ham earlier this season, he wasted excellent goal-scoring opportunities by rushing even though he had the time and space to pick his spot.
The £64m man could not have asked for a better run in the team after the injuries suffered by Jesus and Havertz but he has failed to impress. How much patience Arteta will show now that the others are back fit remains to be seen.