Why Martinelli is Arsenal's answer to Haaland and could decide the title

Sam McGuire

• Updated: 25 Apr 2023 20:29 BST
• 4 min read

Gabriel Martinelli has gone under the radar a little this season.

It may sound strange given he's the top scorer for the Premier League leaders but the likes of William Saliba, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka have all seemed to overshadow the Brazilian forward.

The trio have all played their part in getting Arsenal to the top of the table but Martinelli has been key in ensuring they stay there.

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The 21-year-old has 15 goals and five assists this season, a significant increase on the six goals and six assists he managed during the 2021/22 campaign.

Furthermore, this is the most goals a player aged 21 or under has scored since Nicolas Anelka's 17 in the 1998-99 campaign.

In his last 10 English top-flight appearances, Martinelli has eight goals and three assists. He's in the form of his life at the perfect time for the Gunners.

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He's posting these numbers while being deployed in a variety of roles by Arteta. He primarily plays on the left of the attack but has lead the line with the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard have been unavailable.

Martinelli once jokingly said he'd play as a goalkeeper just to get on the pitch for Arsenal. But that hunger to play epitomises his mentality. He wants to be on the pitch making a difference.

And he has been as of late.

Martinelli thriving as Arsenal struggle

Mikel Arteta's men have started to wobble over recent months. They went from looking extremely comfortable at the top, so much so that their first Premier League title in two decades seemed to be a formality, to finding themselves in their current predicament.

Arsenal are five points clear at the top of the table but have played two more games than the team in second, Manchester City. They also have to travel to the Etihad this week.

Without Martinelli though, they would be in a much worse situation.

The versatile forward has a goal involvement in each of his last six Premier League matches. He also has a goal or an assist in nine of his last 10 English top-flight games.

He's been one of the few constants for Arsenal in what has been a fairly inconsistent stage of the campaign for them.

For further context here, Saka has six goals and four assists in the same period but these arrived in just four matches. Whenever he's scored, he's assisted. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it does highlight how patchy his form has been. It also shows that Martinelli has been much more of a threat during this run and he's one of the main reasons they have been able to prolong this title race.

This is all the more impressive when you remember Martinelli missed a spot kick against Sporting in the Europa League penalty shootout loss.

Afterwards, Arteta considered resting the Brazil international

Speaking after the win over Crystal Palace, Arteta said: "The reaction he had after missing a penalty. There is always the question, but I asked him yesterday how he was and he said: 'I want to be in the team.'”

Martinelli didn't shy away from the spotlight then and he's clearly thriving under the pressure of spearheading a title-challenging team, despite his inexperience. It says a lot about him as a player. While teammates are getting lost in the noise and feeling the weight of expectation, the 15-goal forward is front and centre.

The upcoming match against City is the perfect opportunity for Martinelli to really hammer home the fact he is the main protagonist in this title race. The eyes of the world will be watching what could well be a title decider.

He signed a new deal in February to extend his stay at the Emirates until 2028. If this form continues, expect another renewal with a pay increase for the €60.7 million rated attacker.

Martinelli has blanked in both games against City this season. But he's never been in this sort of form before. Even with Erling Haaland on the pitch, the Arsenal No.11 could be the danger man on Wednesday.