like we had last Thursday.<\/a> Even then, that may simply unearth a red herring like Jurrien Timber (\u00a36.4m). The Dutchman not only started on Saturday but also finished the game.<\/p>\nGYOKERES\u2019 STOCK RISES FOR DOUBLE GAMEWEEK?<\/p>\n
Bar Declan Rice (\u00a37.5m) and Martin Zubimendi (\u00a35.2m), one of the biggest sticks to beat Arsenal midfielders and forwards with is their lack of guaranteed minutes in the Double Gameweek. Anything from 60-160 minutes is possible.<\/p>\n
Viktor Gyokeres\u2018 (\u00a38.7m) xMins probably got a boost here, mind. A substitute against Sunderland (thus proving the point about rotation fears), he emerged off the bench to score a second-half brace. His goals owed much to game-state and to his teammates: Trossard\u2019s fine slide-rule ball and Kai Havertz\u2018s (\u00a37.3m) square pass found him in the centre of the box for the opener, while his injury-time second goal was a tap-in after fine work on the counter-attack from Gabriel Martinelli (\u00a36.8m).<\/p>\n
Six of the Swede\u2019s eight Premier League goals have come against the newly promoted clubs.<\/p>\n
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Still, you\u2019d expect Gyokeres to now start over Gabriel Jesus (\u00a36.4m) on Thursday, consequently get a rest against Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup, and then potentially return for the Gameweek 26 finale at Molineux. A north London derby goes follow four days after that, of course.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Confidence] is the magic word, I think. When you feel confident, when you feel important, when you feel at your best, that\u2019s when you can really take your game to the highest level. We all try, the first one, the teammates, but all the staff, obviously, really behind him in every moment to try to help him, to try to support him, and he\u2019s delivering and he\u2019s in a really good moment now.\u201d \u2013 Mikel Arteta on Viktor Gyokeres<\/p>\n
A Trossard injury would boost Martinelli\u2019s game-time potential, but we\u2019ve actually seen the Brazilian finishing the game on the right flank in the last three matches. On each occasion, Saka deputy Noni Madueke (\u00a36.8m) has been hooked early. You may get two starts out of Madueke in Gameweek 26, but you\u2019ll always be clock-watching:<\/p>\n
MatchNoni Madueke\u2019s minutesv Leeds (Gameweek 24)60v Chelsea (EFL Cup semi-final)68v Sunderland (Gameweek 25)59<\/p>\n
Madueke was largely unproductive, although he did nearly force an own-goal and won possession for Arsenal\u2019s first strike.<\/p>\n
RARE SALIBA + RAYA \u2018EXTRAS\u2019<\/p>\n
There has been much pre-Gameweek 26 discussion about how little David Raya (\u00a35.9m) and William Saliba (\u00a36.0m) offer bar clean sheets. Ironic, then, that the pair delivered \u2018extras\u2019 on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Saliba, locked in a physical battle with the impressive Brian Brobbey (\u00a35.5m), banked DefCon points for the first time since Gameweek 1. Raya, meanwhile, pocketed more than six FPL points in a match for just the second time since the opening weekend.<\/p>\n
It was even more incongruous that Raya delivered a bonus point as a) he only made two stops and b) he was pretty ropey. Both saves came from efforts taken outside the area, the second one unconvincingly parried away. Raya also dropped a cross at Brobbey\u2019s feet for Sunderland\u2019s one and only big chance, and had to be bailed out by Gabriel Magalhaes (\u00a37.1m) on another occasion.<\/p>\n
Despite Raya\u2019s efforts and a rusty display from Riccardo Calafiori (\u00a35.6m) at left-back, this was another commanding defensive performance in which the opposition xG was kept way, way down:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-114.png\")
RICE\u2019S DEFCON ENDS DROUGHT<\/p>\n
Rice\u2019s four-match run of blanks ended, sort of, with DefCon returns.<\/p>\n
He was also inches away from scoring with a shot from the edge of the area, while he teed up substitute Eberechi Eze (\u00a37.2m) for a very presentable chance after the break.<\/p>\n
Zubimendi scored from a similar position to where Rice missed from; both chances were set up by the influential Trossard. While Rice\u2019s effort went agonisingly wide, Zubimendi\u2019s hit the post and went in. Fine margins.<\/p>\n
Remarkably, the unheralded (in FPL terms) Zubimendi is now Arsenal\u2019s joint-second-top league scorer in 2025\/26!<\/p>\n
Statistically speaking, the Spaniard creates, shoots and racks up defensive contributions less often than Rice \u2013 but he\u2019s not doing too badly at all for a \u00a35.2m midfielder. Back-to-back 10-point hauls have brought up his century of FPL points.<\/p>\n
FORGET AND MOVE ON FOR SUNDERLAND<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no shame in losing to one of the best teams in Europe.<\/p>\n
Sunderland actually did pretty well for long parts of this contest, limiting their hosts to few clear-cut chances. After Havertz\u2019s first-minute header drifted wide, the Gunners didn\u2019t really have a good opening until Gyokeres\u2019 66th-minute goal.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a third straight away defeat for Sunderland, and they\u2019ve conceded three goals in each of them. This was different to the surrenders at Brentford and West Ham United, however.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe score is the same but it wasn\u2019t the same game.\u201d \u2013 Regis Le Bris on the recent away losses<\/p>\n
The Mackems are also crucially now back on home soil, where they\u2019re unbeaten in 2025\/26, in Gameweeks 26 and 27.<\/p>\n
![\"price](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG-20250820-WA0000-1-1024x1024.jpg\")
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