Arsenal made it 31 goals in seven league matches with a 6-0 thrashing of sorry Sheffield United on Monday.
Five different Gunners found the net, with hapless Jayden Bogle (£4.5m) also scoring past his own goalkeeper.
Here, we look back on the last act of Gameweek 27 and bring you some key fitness updates from Arsenal.
SAKA “SICK”
After Erling Haaland’s (£14.5m) modest score in the Manchester derby, this was the chance for Bukayo Saka (£9.2m) captainers to steal a march.
But it wasn’t to be, with sickness and boss Mikel Arteta curtailing his evening at Bramall Lane.
Having assisted Bogle’s own-goal and then teed up Declan Rice (£5.4m), the lively Saka’s involvement ended at the halfway mark.
Thankfully, it was illness and not injury to blame.
“Bukayo was feeling sick and he wasn’t feeling right, so we decided to take him off and bring Fabio [Vieira] in.” – Mikel Arteta
MARTINELLI INJURY
Gabriel Martinelli (£7.7m) owners might also have felt that further points were left on the pitch, although he may have soon been hooked anyway even if injury hadn’t struck.
The sight of Martinelli being helped from the field of play was a worrying one but again, the update from Arteta was relatively positive.
“With Gabi, it was just a cut. He had a tackle and he had a slight cut, so we have to see how he is.” – Mikel Arteta
The Brazil international had scored after a one-two with Jakub Kiwior (£4.3m), later going on to set up Kai Havertz (£7.1m) for Arsenal’s fourth.
It’s been quite an underwhelming season for Martinelli in real-life and Fantasy terms. He has fewer attacking returns than the likes of Anthony Elanga (£5.1m) and Rodri (£5.6m).
But he, like the rest of the Arsenal side, have really hit their stride this calendar year.
DAT KAI
Havertz has been at the heart of the recent purple patch. He’s plundered six attacking returns and 40 points in the last three Gameweeks alone. From rotation risk and makeshift striker to, arguably, Arsenal’s best current centre-forward option.
A massive slice of context is needed, of course. He’s just faced two of the worst teams ever to grace the Premier League and a Newcastle United side in dire defensive form.
We’ll also have to see if and how Arteta integrates Gabriel Jesus (£7.8m) back into the side over the coming weeks. Does Havertz go back into midfield to accommodate the Brazilian? Will there be a job share and rotation in attack as the fixtures pile up? Or does Jesus have to adjust himself to bit-part player status?
“We believed that today it was the best option to start the game. We had a long period after Newcastle. Now it will very different with Brentford coming up then Porto.” – Mikel Arteta on his unchanged XI
Currently, Havertz’s old ‘eight’ role is being occupied by Declan Rice (£5.4m). It’ll be interesting to see if Jorginho‘s (£5.3m) good form in the ‘six’, Thomas Partey‘s (£4.7m) return to fitness and Havertz’s positive displays as a striker means there’ll be more of Rice in this more advanced position.
In the last two Gameweeks there, he’s racked up six shots and nine penalty box touches. He’d had only one such touch in his previous eight runouts. Rice has also taken more corners than any other Gunner since the turn of the year.
KIWIOR IMPRESSES AGAIN – BUT TOMIYASU “CLOSE”
Three of Arsenal’s backline are among the top five FPL points scorers in their position this season. All of them are now past the 100 mark.
Kiwior has been an impressive part of the defence over the last month or so. He’s even chipped in with four attacking returns in his last five outings.
His ownership has increased tenfold since Gameweek 24, and he’ll no doubt start against Brentford next weekend.
Don’t be relying on his minutes beyond that, though, with Takehiro Tomiyasu (£4.5m) already back on the grass. Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.0m) will presumably be back at some point in the short to medium term, too, not that his manager has given us much to go off for a return date.
“He’s very close, he’s already doing something on the grass and hopefully we’re going to have him very close with us.” – Mikel Arteta on Takehiro Tomiyasu
Continuing with the Arsenal rearguard, we won’t see David Raya (£5.0m) again before Gameweek 30. He’s ineligible next weekend and blanks in Gameweek 29.
BLADES BOSS SHARPENS THE KNIVES
Sheffield United have been stuffed by a combined 16-0 in their last three home league games. A total of 72 goals have been conceded regardless of venue this season, so they’re well on track to beat Swindon Town’s unwanted record.
They’ve actually been better on the road since Chris Wilder took over, impressing at Molineux a week ago, winning at Luton Town before that, holding Aston Villa to a draw and suffering only a small defeat at the Etihad.
Even factoring that in, it still won’t deter the rush for Bournemouth assets in Double Gameweek 28.
There’s a chance we see some fresher faces at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday, with Wilder effectively throwing the towel in and threatening to blood the youngsters in what remains of the Blades’ Premier League stay.
“What you’ll notice and see a little bit more now is the introduction of the younger players because I thought we were better when they came on. I know the game’s gone and Saka comes off and they dropped down a level but Brooks coming on, Osula and especially Arblaster coming on might be a route now.” – Chris Wilder
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