Viktor Gyokeres scored his first goal for Arsenal in their final pre-season friendly against Athletic Club at the Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side will travel to Old Trafford next to face Manchester United in the Premier League, an opening weekend trip which is full of narrative.
It remains to be seen if Viktor Gyokeres will start for Arsenal – will Arteta choose to stick with Kai Havertz to start the season?
And after a long summer of Arsenal trying to sign Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig, the Gunners might now face the Slovenian in a Man United shirt.
Sesko has signed for United and although Arteta will be content with having Gyokeres at his disposal, he might have one eye on the 22-year-old’s progress under Ruben Amorim throughout the season.
That being said, all of Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards have now shared their predictions on where Arsenal will finish in the Premier League this season.
Speaking on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast, all three pundits mentioned Gyokeres’ arrival at Arsenal, and the positive effect the Swedish striker could have on their chances.
However, the trio ultimately concluded that Arteta’s side would still fall short of the title.
Starting the chat, Richards said: “Bringing in Gyokeres now for Arsenal is massive, and not just because he’s a big name forward, [but] because of his movement that we talk about with strikers all the time.
“So Havertz is really good, we’re all big fans of Havertz, but in a number 10 position where he can create, not leading the line.
“I know he’s done really good movement when he plays up there, but he hasn’t got a striker’s instinct. So that’s why I think Gyokeres is gonna add something really special.
“I still don’t know if it’s enough to get them over the line, I still don’t know. I think one or two injuries and they’re back to the same as last season, so I’m gonna say challenging, but not champions.”
In addition to Richards’ comments, Shearer then agreed that Arteta’s side would be runners-up at best, even if he had been impressed by the club’s transfer window.
Shearer added: “I’d agree. I think they’ll challenge. I just think they may fall short again.
“I like all of their signings. I think that’s exactly what they needed, and I still don’t think they may be finished yet in terms of bringing players in and certainly players going out.
“I’ve definitely got them in the Champions League, but I just don’t see them having enough to win the title – just fall short.”
And whilst Lineker was impressed by Gyokeres’ ‘terrific’ goal against Athletic Club on the weekend, he still thought Arsenal would fall short.
Arteta is buoyed to have Gyokeres in his team ahead of the new Premier League season beginning.
But Lineker agreed that Arsenal wouldn’t win the league, “I think I concur with both of you on that front. I probably wouldn’t have said that if it wasn’t that Liverpool have strengthened so well.
“But a lot too will depend on how Gyokeres does, he scored a terrific goal in pre-season, but we all know pre-season is not that important, although it is for a striker in terms of that feeling of hitting the back of the net.
“So I think a lot will depend on him, but we know he’ll get good service, that’s for sure. So I think they could go close again, but I’m going to agree with both of you.”
