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Liverpool’s Premier League rivals Arsenal suffered a major injury blow on Sunday as Gabriel Jesus was replaced on a stretcher in the FA Cup third-round tie against Manchester United.
The Brazilian collided with Bruno Fernandes at the edge of the Arsenal box and while Jesus was lucky not to concede a foul, it was he who came off worse from the incident and appeared in real discomfort before being replaced by Raheem Sterling. Jesus immediately threw an arm into the air to indicate he was struggling and was incapable of walking off the pitch.
It’s a bitter blow for the Gunners, who have found the center-forward position to be a real challenge at times this season. Kai Havertz has often operated as a false nine, but it’s Jesus who has mainly played up front in recent weeks.
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The former Manchester City star has netted six in his last five starts in all competitions and has played in 16 of Arsenal’s last 17 Premier League matches. But whether he can extend that record now seems in real doubt given what looked like a serious injury.
Mikel Arteta’s side faces two sides competing in European competitions next week, with Premier League matches against Tottenham Hotspur and then Aston Villa. Given Arsenal is six points behind Liverpool in the table – with the leaders having a game in hand – it’s conceivable that two bad results could all but end the team’s title hopes.
Arsenal is also already without Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri due to injury. The London club also struggled with a spate of absentees around November and, just as Arteta’s squad was beginning to look close to whole again, the Spaniard has suffered recent blows in the offensive areas.
“We have unfortunately had a lot of players injured so we do it for all of them,” Arteta said earlier this week. “But we do it for our people and because it is our job and our passion to try to do our best to win football matches.”
Arsenal is unbeaten in its last 10 Premier League matches but drew 1-1 last time out against Brighton & Hove Albion and failed to make the most of Liverpool’s slip-up against Manchester United.