Arsenal’s next Premier League game is against Man Utd (Picture: Getty)
Micah Richards has revealed his ‘worry’ for Viktor Gyokeres and urged Mikel Arteta to drop the Arsenal striker for next weekend’s Premier League clash against Manchester United.
Gyokeres has only scored five goals in 20 Premier League appearances since his £64m move from Portugal last summer.
The 27-year-old scored in Arsenal’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg win over Chelsea last week but was again fairly ineffective in Saturday’s goalless draw draw with Nottingham Forest.
Gyokeres was subbed off with half an hour remaining and ex-England defender Richards believes his replacement, Gabriel Jesus, should now be starting ahead of the Sweden international.
Jesus missed most of last season through injury but has returned from the treatment room in recent weeks along with fellow forward Kai Havertz.
Arsenal will hope to continue their title charge next Sunday when Manchester United visit the Emirates Stadium and Richards believes Jesus should start for the Gunners.
‘I think they need to play Gabriel Jesus now,’ Richards said on The Rest is Football podcast.
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Arsenal summer signing Victor Gyokeres (Picture: Getty)
‘Mikel Arteta has stuck with Gyokeres – I’m not sure if he’s struggling with confidence or struggling to adapt to a new league, I know he’s played in the Championship but the Premier League is a different beast.
‘All of the clips I watched of Gyokeres last season, I remember saying that Arsenal fans shouldn’t expect him to be a world-beater but what he did have was that aggressive run in behind.
‘But he’s not doing the same thing now and that worries me. Maybe he needs a couple of games out of the team and to get his confidence back before coming back in.
Former England defender Micah Richards (Picture: Getty)
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‘There was a moment against Forest where he should have gone through but as a defender you think you can get back because he’s lacking confidence and his touch isn’t going to be right. Even if he went through you’re not fancying him to score at the minute.
‘I know he scored in the cup game but there’s not been a big moment for him yet where he’s scored an unbelievable goal to give him the confidence that he’s going to go on a run.
‘So maybe take him out of the firing line for a little bit and then bringing him back in might be the best thing for the team.’
England legend Gary Lineker ‘agreed’ with Richards’ assessment and Alan Shearer also revealed his ‘surprise’ at Gyokeres’ underwhelming form.
‘I thought Gyokeres was disappointing, he didn’t offer enough,’ said Premier League record goalscorer Shearer.
‘There wa a moment in the first half when he was one v one with a defender and I was waiting for him to knock the ball across him to make the defender foul him.
‘But he just couldn’t get away with him, he looked very leggy. I was really surprised at how he let the defend control the situation.’
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