“We were all begging for him to score.” Mikel Arteta’s sole frustration from Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Fulham stemmed from Viktor Gyokeres’ failure to get among the goals. Leandro Trossard was the matchwinner for the Gunners after Bukayo Saka’s corner was knocked into the Belgian’s path by Gabriel Magalhaes. Trossard was left with an easy finish as Arsenal claimed a huge three points.
Craven Cottage has been a tough stadium for Arsenal to visit in recent years yet they showed the winning mentality that’ll serve them well over the course of the campaign. Arteta is looking to guide his side to a first Premier League title in over 20 years, and having been the bridesmaid in the last few seasons; many are hoping this is their year.
However, one can appreciate Arteta’s frustration about Gyokeres’ goal drought. Having completed a £64m deal to sign the Swede over the summer, Gyokeres was viewed as the final piece of Arsenal’s attacking puzzle. Indeed, the powerhouse hitman struck 39 times and provided an additional seven assists in Sporting CP’s Liga Portugal triumph last season.
In the opening weeks of his time at the Emirates, though, Gyokeres has looked a shadow of the striker that scored for fun in Lisbon. A blank on Saturday evening means Gyokeres has failed to score on his last seven club appearances. Factor in misses against Switzerland and Kosovo over the international break, and it’s been nine games since he last hit the back of the net.
Even then, Gyokeres hasn’t looked entirely convincing in front of goal. Arsenal’s star forward has just three goals for the Gunners this season. One of those was a penalty in a resounding 5-0 home win over Leeds. Another was a tap-in in Ange Postecoglou’s first game during his doomed Nottingham Forest spell. It’s not great for a forward who was handed the European Golden Shoe prize at the Ballon d’Or award ceremony last month.
Fortunately for Arsenal they haven’t been entirely reliant on Gyokeres to hit the ground running. Arteta’s men are three points clear at the top of the Premier League table at the time of writing following Saturday’s win over Fulham. 15 goals scored is the third highest in the division, while they’ve again been reliant on set pieces to fire their way to first. No team has scored more set-piece goals, excluding penalties, than the Gunners (8) in the 2025/26 Premier League campaign.
As Gyokeres really gets up to speed, a reliance on a specific route to goal is no bad thing. Yet fans are hoping he can find his rhythm sooner rather than later and as this barren run continues, the harder it will be to defend a goalshy start to life in the capital. Saying that, it’s not as though Gyokeres isn’t chancing his luck where possible.
No current Arsenal player has had more shots (18) in the Premier League this season, that haul in itself the fourth most in the division. Conversely, an inability to have a shot against Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City, the Gunners’ ‘Big Six’ rivals, is not a good look. Even so, a conversion rate of 16.7% isn’t that bad and it’s not as though Gyokeres is massively underperforming his xG haul of 4.02.
And while the primary duty of a striker is to put the ball in the back of the net, there is Gyokeres’ work off the ball that has helped open up a new avenue for the Arsenal frontline to exploit. "He's a big part of the reason why we're winning these games," Bukayo Saka enthused recently.
Arteta has primarily favoured a selfless forward to lead the charge for his Arsenal side. Gabriel Jesus pulls wide to open up gaps for the wingers to capitalise upon. Kai Havertz drops deeper and using his physicality to hold up the ball well. Gyokeres, meanwhile, combines both qualities to influence play in the final third. "The way he stretches the back four and the spaces he opens,” Arteta stated after the recent win over West Ham on the striker’s work rate.
Gyokeres’ off-ball runs drag markers out of position, and this can be capitalised upon by those in support. Arteta so often looks for his widemen to cut inside to provide overlapping opportunities out wide, and make incisive inside runs when the space is presented owing to Gyokeres' clever movement.
The Sweden international is also closely marked by defenders, significantly more so than he was in Portugal, meaning space is very much at a premium. Gyokeres won’t get the same time on the ball he was afforded during his time at Sporting, which also explains why his shots per 90 have dropped from 4.5 to 2.4 and key passes per 90 have tumbled from two to 0.7.
The number of touches in the opposition box per 90 has also fallen from 10.5 to 7.2, which further serves to highlight why league goals per 90 from dropped from 1.3 to 0.4. Of course, the way Sporting and Arsenal play is inherently different, so these respective drops were to be expected.
Even so, Gyokeres’ lack of involvement in possession is offset by his work off the ball. "His goals will come," Saka has previously stated as Arsenal familiarise themselves with a new frontman. After all, Havertz hardly made an immediate impact following his arrival from Chelsea having scored just once in his opening 12 outings for the Gunners. Once Arteta worked out the best way to maximise the German, Havertz started scoring consistently.
The lack of goals is concerning yet Gyokeres is offering more to this Arsenal attack than meets the eye. He’s still getting to grips with a new league in a new system, and shouldering the pressure that comes with a high-profile switch to a Premier League title contender. Give it time and it’ll really start to click for Gyokeres.
