In the absence of outstanding teammate Bukayo Saka, who was sidelined for “many weeks” due to a hamstring injury on Monday, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has trusted winger Gabriel Martinelli to excel.
Arteta stated on Thursday that he is sure the Brazillian international Martinelli, who moved to the right wing after Saka went off in the 5-1 victory against Crystal Palace, can help replace Saka’s nine goals and thirteen assists in 24 games this season.

Martinelli had a major effect in the game [against Palace] and like different players, everybody must add something different because Bukayo, who we depend a lot on won’t be with us,” Arteta said.

“Gabi really enjoys it. If he can, Gabi, he wants to complete the task you set for him today. He is a player who, in my opinion, enjoys accountability and a more significant role. Again, it is on everyone to accept responsibility today.

Saka’s hamstring blow was the third he has faced this season, and Arteta was asked if his use of the player contributed to the latest setback.

“I assume that a physical problem like this will have a lot of contributing factors. No one knows, but we’re looking at it and trying to [see if we could] do better,” Arteta stated. Maybe you think that all of your excellent work isn’t what that muscle needs; it requires something else that we can’t control.

We’re only concerned with getting the first one resolved right now and moving forward day by day. It’s obvious that his six-year history is amazing. Finding a more resilient player in this league is really challenging, particularly given his age when the pressure is on for the national team, club, and everything else. It’s an injury; we need to go over it, and he will recover.”

Arteta also stated that he is not ruling out making moves in January, but is instead focusing on getting the most out of his current squad.
“My focus now, honestly, is basically with our team knowing that we have to be as decisive as possible since we’ve got a lot of different opportunities for accomplishing that, and if the opportunity becomes feasible and the club can make it happen, we’ll need to think about it,” he continued.
Arsenal will face Ipswich Town on Friday in an attempt to cut the gap on league leaders Liverpool, who defeated Leicester City 3-1 on Boxing Day to extend their Premier League advantage to seven points with a game in hand.

If Arsenal wins, they will pass both Nottingham Forest and Chelsea and find themselves six points adrift of Arne Slot’s team in second position.