Arsenal star Gabriel Jesus has been absent for a few weeks with a hamstring injury, but is now expected to make a sudden return for the Brazil National Team.
The striker has not featured in any of Arsenal’s last five games since picking up the injury away at Sevilla, but travelled to Brazil to link up with his National side.
He returned to training after initially being ruled out of his team’s defeat to Colombia, but with an important game against Argentina coming up this week, Jesus is now expected to return.
Gabriel Jesus expected to start against Argentina
A report from Brazilian outlet Globo has now claimed that with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior picking up an injury, Jesus is expected to start in his place.
Jesus has not played a minute of football for nearly a month, and Mikel Arteta was reportedly concerned about rushing him back.
Should he start, Arsenal may be particularly worried about Jesus picking up another injury, and will be frustrated given that they held talks with the Brazil staff over his fitness.
Jesus trained as a striker with Brazil in recent days, and is expected to be the direct replacement for Vinicius Junior, to start alongside fellow Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli.
Arteta’s Gabriel Jesus concern
Brazil’s game against Argentina looks set to be a heated affair, with Argentina’s defeat to Uruguay on Thursday night featuring plenty of heavy tackles and fights to the extent that Lionel Messi criticised the physicality of the match.
Jesus being thrown straight in from the start is a risk, and Arteta will be very concerned about the potential for the 26-year-old to pick up yet another injury.
Arteta will be hoping for the best-case scenario, that Jesus uses the Argentina game to regain fitness and play himself into form, rather than aggravating his hamstring issue further.
It still seems unlikely that Jesus will then go on to start against Brentford next Saturday, as Arteta may be more keen on easing his star forward back in through substitute appearances.
Eddie Nketiah, Leandro Trossard or Kai Havertz will likely play through the middle in a tough match away at Brentford, and Trossard may be the favourite following his fine run of form in recent games.
With Arsenal’s fixture list somewhat easing off for a few weeks, it will be the perfect time to allow Jesus to slowly reintegrate into the side such that he is fully fit and ready to start during the Christmas period, which includes a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool.
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