We didn’t get the Mikel Arteta press conference that I swore I saw somebody say was going to happen yesterday, but what we did get was sight of Gabriel Jesus in full first team training, which is lovely to see. I doubt it will mean anything for this weekend, because he’ll need probably a few weeks of training to get up to speed, but it is an asset that we can hopefully call upon and despite a fair few of us thinking he might be gone in January, he himself has said he wants to stay at The Arsenal and you can understand why. He joined to win trophies, it hasn’t quite happened, but with the squad as it is right now, he probably see’s this as an ideal time to break that drought.

And let’s not forget the player he’s been for us at times. Arteta spoke of how he and Zinchenko ‘changed our world’ when they joined and that initial few months before he went to that horrible winter world cup in 2022 he was electric. Every time he’s started to look like he’s picking up form, he’s had an injury that knocked him back, so he himself will definitely feel like there’s some unfinished business that needs to be completed at The Arsenal. It’s funny because I think if he was a couple of week’s earlier in his rehab, he might have been thrust in to the team and been given the opportunity to start up front now, given our paucity of attacking options due to injury, but the healing process is the healing process and there’s nothing we can do about it.

What he can do about it is provide Arteta with another attacking option and if he’s back in training now, could there be an opportunity for him to make the match day squad this weekend, or at least for the North London Derby?

Probably not this weekend, as I’ve already indicated and I suspect Arteta will do the same at his pre-Sunderland press conference, but maybe for the NLD. The challenge he’ll have, as a few players have found this season, is that competition just to make the match day squad is tough given the depth we have. Nwaneri, Dowman, even Norgaard have found that there isn’t a place at the weekend and Gabriel Jesus will need to be ready to fight hard just to make the weekend line up. Despite that though, we know he’s a fighter and I think he’ll certainly feel like he has something to give this team, regardless of how stocked we are in the attacking positions.

His versatility will certainly help. He can play across that front three and with the games coming thick and fast in the coming weeks and months, there will surely be opportunities for him to get minutes. Let’s not forget that he loves the Champions League too, so perhaps there’s some game time there for him as well.

I for one hope we do see him get minutes in an Arsenal shirt sooner rather than later, because I think he offers things that others do not, with his quick turn of pace with the ball and ability to wriggle out of tight situations. Leo has that, but Gabriel Jesus does it in a different type of way, which can be very important when you’re facing those low blocks and you’ve got forwards in your team who are in an opponents box and surrounded by defenders everywhere. The close control and ability to fashion a chance from that central position is a super power of his. We know he isn’t the most prolific, he’s patchy when it comes to his goalscoring, but he’s also a guy who will chase down everything and is a right nuisance to play against for opponents.

Let’s see what you’ve got Gabby J.

As for the other stuff going on, well, as it’s Friday I did my usual snooping and there’s a mixed bag of predictions from their fans. you’d expect that given their good home form and the fact they’ve started the season quite well. Based on about 20 – 30 different messages on a couple of message boards, it’s about 40% saying Arsenal will win, 20% saying a draw and then 40% saying they’ll win. The pundits naturally favour us given our defensive record, with Sports Mole giving us a 1-0 win, Merse going for 2-0, as is Sutton too. That ‘nil’ is a common feature and I can understand why (other than Jones Knows, who has gone with a 2-1 Sunderland win, interestingly enough), but I have a weird and sneaky feeling this weekend might be the one that stops that brilliant record we’ve been on. We know it can’t last forever, but also, I am interested to know what happens with the team when that deadlock is final broken against us. I remember hearing a story from a Chelsea player years ago – think it was Michael Essien – talking about this amazing record Chelsea had at home with Jose Mourinho in charge the first time. It went on for so long – literal years – that it became almost like a weird millstone around the players’ necks. Essien spoke about how they were so afraid to lose, that perhaps they even became less expansive and even draws were fine, as long as there wasn’t a loss. As a result, there were games in which they probably could have gone on and got the win, but so afraid were they of losing their record, they would rather play for a draw. I wonder if it could get to that stage with us? We’re winning football matches at the moment and so one can’t complain too much, but what happens when that goal is conceded and how does the team react?

That might be telling and that might give us an insight in to how well equipped we really are to dominate this league this season. We await tomorrow evening with baited breath.

Catch you all tomorrow.