Ian Wright suggests Arsenal need a new number nine after misses against Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal dropped points for the second time in the 2023-24 Premier League campaign on Sunday after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Tottenham Hotspur at Emirates Stadium.
It is still early days but the Gunners are now four points behind Manchester City after six league games, and Ian Wright believes missing big chances could prove costly in the long run.
Gabriel Jesus had a chance to double his side’s lead in the first-half after an own goal from Spurs centre-back Cristian Romero had put Arsenal ahead 26 minutes into the game.
Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario played the ball out to James Maddison on the edge of the box six minutes later, but the 26-year-old Brazil international striker pounced, nicked the ball and had a clear sight of goal.
However, he failed to even hit the target and smashed the ball over.
The miss proved costly ten minutes later as Heung-Min Son drew the visitors level, and Wright thinks Arsenal may need an upgrade in the number 9 position to convert more chances.
“Jesus nicks it off of him, and you’re thinking that is for 2-nil,” the former Gunners hitman said on Match of the Day 2.
“He misses the chance and it is a big chance to miss.
“If you’re going to try and chase down City, if you’re going to try and stay in that top-four and try and win the league, then you’ve to take those chances. If those are the margins.
“If that’s what you’re doing it for, then you’ve to take the chance.
“We’re talking about the margins now. You need to score those goals, 2-nil makes that a different game.”
Arsenal have created 13 big chances this term but have converted just five, missing the other eight.
They have had just a 12% shot conversion rate, which is not good enough for a team that wants to challenge for the title.
Failure to regularly convert their chances could end up hurting them, and while both Jesus and Nketiah are quality strikers, they are often guilty of missing chances.
Arsenal may need to get a better and more clinical finisher to boost their chances of winning the title, and manager Mikel Arteta could be forced to do that in January or next summer.
The Spaniard brought in another goalie in David Raya after Aaron Ramsdale struggled in some areas, and doing the same to the striking department may be needful.
