Gary Lineker reckons Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres could prove costly to the Gunners’ title hopes unless he starts scoring goals soon.
The Gunners are three points ahead of second-placed Manchester City in the Premier League with Liverpool a further point back in third position after the weekend’s matches.
In three Premier League matches, Arsenal have gone from five points behind Liverpool to four points ahead with Arne Slot’s side on a four-match losing streak in all competitions.
Arsenal beat Fulham 1-0 on Saturday to record their sixth win in eight Premier League matches this term and take command of the title race.
Despite that, the Gunners have still been criticised for their lack of goals from open play with ten of their 15 goals this season coming from set-pieces.
Summer signing Gyokeres has scored three goals in eight games and has not scored for club or country since September 13 against Nottingham Forest.
And former Tottenham and England striker Lineker insists Gyokeres will have to improve his strike rate if Arsenal are going to win the Premier League title.
Lineker said on The Rest Is Football podcast: “He (Gyokeres) is going through a bit of a bad spell. Seven games in all competitions without a goal. I think for Arsenal to really realise their ambitions, he’s going to have to start scoring a lot of goals. I think it’s a big spell coming up for him over the next few games.”
And former England and Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer agreed with Lineker but highlighted a big benefit he brings to the current Arsenal side.
Shearer said on Arsenal striker Gyokeres: “He’s going to have to score more goals definitely, but one of his positives for the Arsenal team is that he runs in behind, which then helps create space for others to exploit.
“There’s no doubt he’s going to have to improve his numbers with the goals, but he has added something different to the team.”
Mikel Arteta recently insisted that he appreciates Gyokeres’ route to the top of the game with spells at Championship level and the Portuguese league before ending up at Arsenal.
Arteta said recently: “He has not been a top striker in all of his career. His journey had bumps in the road. And when you go to a level, you’re going to have this, it doesn’t go like this (motions a constant upward curve).
“I haven’t seen that for any player, except one or two in history. So get ready and deal with it with naturally, and obviously with all the support that he has from us.”