Arsenal are firing on all cylinders at the moment and have managed to pair their steely defence with a ruthlessness in front of goal they haven't shown before.
The Gunners have won their previous six Premier League games by an absurd margin of 25-3 and, aside from their blip in the Champions League, have looked unbeatable.
Mikel Arteta has seen his team go from one that scored a single goal from 63 shots before the winter break to one that can't stop scoring, which is even more impressive considering Gabriel Jesus has been injured for a month.
Position
Player
Appearances
Goals
1
Bukayo Saka
34
16
2
Leandro Trossard
31
10
3
Martin Odegaard
33
8
3
Gabriel Jesus
23
8
4
Kai Havertz
36
7
4
Gabriel Martinelli
31
7
5
Eddie Nketiah
32
6
The Brazilian last played against Nottingham Forest on January 30th, and while he's likely to come back into the side when fit, the player fans thought was his backup, Eddie Nketiah, might not.
The Englishman has been fit for this run of games but hasn't been picked, which could spell trouble as a Hale End gem with an eye for goal continues to develop.
Eddie Nketiah's season in numbers
The former Chelsea youth product went into this season as backup behind the talented but increasingly injury-prone Jesus, and so there was a feeling that he would get a reasonable amount of game time over the year.
For the first part of the campaign, this was true, as when the former Manchester City ace was absent, Nketiah stepped into the fold, and by 1 January, he had made 26 appearances for the team, with 13 of those being starts, in which he scored six goals and provided four assists – a reasonable if unspectacular return.
Appearances
32
Starts
13
Minutes
1345'
Goals
6
Assists
5
Minutes per Goal Involvement
122'
However, since the turn of the year, he has made just six appearances, but all of them have been off the bench and only add up to 88 minutes altogether, in which time he has not scored or assisted any goals.
Now, this sort of involvement might be understandable had Jesus been fit and in the team, but he hasn't been. Instead, Arteta has opted to alternate between Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz in place of the Englishman, making it feel like his time as an essential member of this Arsenal team is ending.
The Lewisham-born forward could remain and fight for his place. He has shown he can score in the top flight, but with Jesus set to return soon, the club supposedly looking for a new striker in the summer and the emergence of a talented nine in the academy, it seems like the 24-year-old's time in red and white is up.
Why fans should be excited about Khayon Edwards
So, the youngster who could potentially put the nail in the coffin of Nketiah's Arsenal career is 20-year-old Khayon Edwards.
The Islington-born nine has been a force of nature for the Gunners' youth teams over the last few years and, across 76 appearances for the U18 and U23 sides, has a remarkable return of 37 goals and 13 assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.52 games.
Interestingly, while it's common for youth team players to start in multiple positions with junior teams to try and find where they excel best, Edwards has played the vast majority of his games as a centre-forward, so he has plenty of experience in the role.
Understandably, his exploits at youth level have attracted plenty of attention from more than just scouts and the like, as Kaya Kaynak, football.london's chief Arsenal writer, described him as a "deadly" forward when he watched him play in 2021.
Team
Arsenal U18
Arsenal U23
Appearances
41
36
Goals
23
14
Assists
9
4
Goal Involvements per Match
0.78
0.50
On Arsenal's own website, he has been described as 'a hard-working attacker whose style of play and potency in front of goal emulates fellow academy grad, Eddie Nketiah', which does suggests he has the ability to make it into the first team.
With such an impressive resume at youth level, the 5 foot 11 goalscorer was sent out on loan to League One side Leyton Orient at the start of February in the hope that some first team football could give his development a real boost.
In the month he has been in East London, he has started two games and come off the bench twice to pick up a total of 157 minutes of action, and while he has failed to score thus far, he did impress manager Richie Wellens with his energy, as he claimed "We’re starting with a front three, and at times we ran them ragged. Really clever sometimes in pockets, sometimes outside, our rotations were fantastic."
Khayon Edwards could form a brilliant partnership with Ethan Nwaneri
So, Edwards is a fantastically talented young striker with a real chance of displacing Nketiah in the first team a couple of years from now, but excitingly, he could do so alongside another of Hale End's most promising youngsters, Ethan Nwaneri.
The 16-year-old first grabbed the headlines in September 2022, when Arteta made him the youngest Premier League player of all time when he substituted him on against Brentford at just 15 years and 181 days old.
However, he's more than just a niche pub quiz answer in the future, as he currently has 16 goals and nine assists to his name in just 44 youth team appearances for the Gunners, and he has plenty of experience playing with Edwards.
Team
Arsenal U18
Arsenal U21
Arsenal YL
Appearances
23
20
1
Goals
15
5
1
Assists
5
4
0
Goal Involvements per Match
0.86
0.45
1
For example, the pair both played and scored against Reading's U21 side in September 2023, with Nwaneri in midfield and Edwards up top, in what could be a visage of an Arsenal side to come.
While three years Edwards' junior, the "special player", as U23 scout Antonio Mango dubbed him, has two senior appearances under his belt and could well break into the first team around a similar time despite his younger age.
Moreover, his ability to play in multiple positions and Arteta's claim that he has the "ability to take the ball in tight areas, to escape a little bit like Jack Wilshere used to do" suggests he could occupy that same midfield role he did against the Royals, feeding balls into the frontline and racking up assists as his fellow Hale End graduate racks up goals.
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Ultimately, there is a long way to go for both promising youngsters, but with their records at the youth level and the way people in the know talk about them, don't be too surprised if they are tearing it up for Arsenal in the Premier League in a few years.