3 Arsenal players who have been below par this season

Arsenal are currently fifth in the Premier League table with 14 points from six matches. The Gunners, who were pipped at the post last season by eventual champions Manchester City, will want to challenge once again this season. Then there is UEFA Champions League football to contest too, a competition for which Arsenal have qualified after six long years.

The Gunners beat Brentford 1-0 in their latest match at the Carabao Cup. However, they have the big duel coming up against Manchester City in a bit more than a week's time and will definitely want to win that match and stamp their authority as genuine title contenders. For that to happen, they will need to play as a unit with all players contributing to the cause.

While most of Mikel Arteta’s men have been performing well, there are a few of them, whose performance has not been quite up to the mark. In this article, we will discuss three such players:

#1 Kai Havertz

Arsenal FC v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League

Much has already been discussed about the justification behind Havertz’s signing by Arteta. The 24-year-old German has played in eight matches this season so far and is yet to score any goal or register any assist.

Havertz has been recently replaced by a much livelier Fabio Vieira in Arsenal’s starting line-up and has failed to do anything of note after coming on as a substitute either. Havertz’s stint with his previous club Chelsea was not much of a success either and he should ideally be motivated to succeed at Arsenal.

However, lest we forget, Havertz had also scored the winning goal in the 2021 Champions League final for Chelsea and his ability cannot be doubted. He probably needs more time in his new team and may start firing soon.

Arteta will surely give him more chances to prove his mettle in the upcoming matches. He might also even get a chance to play as the centre-forward in the absence of the regular ones. It remains to be seen whether he is able to improve upon his performances for the club.

#2 Eddie Nketiah

Brentford v Arsenal - Carabao Cup Third Round

Eddie Nketiah has been around for quite a while at Arsenal now, but his performances have been extremely inconsistent. He has only a couple of goals to show for after having played in eight matches this season so far, and the Gunners will need a better performance from their centre-forward if they are to seriously challenge for the league title.

Once Gabriel Martinelli returns from an injury, Arteta should probably start with Gabriel Jesus as the No. 9, which means that Nketiah will start on the bench. However, it can be safely assumed that he will keep getting opportunities to perform as a substitute.

He should be ready to grab the opportunities that come his way with both hands in order to be able to make his mark for the club. He showed flashes of brilliance last season scoring six goals in seven games across competitions between December'22 and January'23. He needs to rediscover a similar spark to help the Gunners reach the promised land this season.

#3 Jorginho

Arsenal FC v AS Monaco: Emirates Cup

At 31, Jorginho does not have too many years left in top-flight football. Currently, he makes sporadic appearances for the Gunners despite the presence of two more defensive midfielders in the form of Declan Rice and Thomas Partey.

However, Partey’s injury has helped Jorginho’s cause of late. Still, he has been error-prone which showed in the Gunners' most recent Premier League match of high significance. He lost possession to James Maddison in the match against Tottenham Hotspur that led to the equalizer for the latter. The UEFA Champions League and European Championship winner will have to make amends for that mistake and give Arsenal’s midfield some solidity whenever Rice and Partey are not available.

Very few people would have thought that Jorginho would play a significant amount of matches this season. Now that the opportunity has presented itself, he should utilize it to the maximum possible extent. A good performance this season should also help him extend his career at the highest level in Europe.