Sports
Arteta declares Jesus ready to start in Arsenal’s EFL Cup clash with Palace
Mikel Arteta revealed that Gabriel Jesus is ready to start for Arsenal in their EFL Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
Jesus made his long-awaited return from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during Arsenal’s Champions League win over Club Brugge earlier in December, while also featuring off the bench against Wolves and Everton in the Premier League.
Arsenal have won seven of their last eight meetings with Palace in all competitions (D1), already beating the Eagles 1-0 in the Premier League this term.
And the two sides also met in this stage of the EFL Cup last term, when Jesus scored a hat-trick at the Emirates Stadium to help the Gunners to a 3-2 win.
Jesus could be set for his first start in over a year, and Arteta believes he can offer a lot to the team.
When asked if Jesus was ready to start, Arteta replied: “Yes, he is. And you can tell that, you can see now, not only in games, every day in training, how much he wants it. So he’s going to deserve a chance soon.
Fine-tuning for Tuesday
The best photos from Sobha Realty Training Centre
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 22, 2025
“I think that’s probably the biggest quality of Gabi, bringing people together, connecting with people, generating a lot of uncertainty in the opponent.
“It’s been a really intense journey, When he joined us, he lifted the belief, the spirit and the energy of the club and the team.
“He gave something very different to what we already had and it was really impressive. And then he had some very bad injuries that hasn’t allowed him to have the consistency that we need from a very important player.
“But he’s back, he’s fighting his spirit, he’s decided to always prepare the best way. He’s unbelievable and the team has got it now and we need to use it.”
Palace eliminated Arsenal in the 1970-71 EFL Cup, but have since lost all three of their meetings with the Gunners in the competition (both legs of the 1992-93 semi-final and last season’s quarter-final).
A former Arsenal striker in Eddie Nketiah could make the difference for the Eagles. Since his EFL Cup debut in October 2017, no player has scored more goals in the competition than the Palace forward (13).
Palace conceded four goals from set pieces in their defeat to Leeds United on the weekend, and Eagles boss Oliver Glasner believes they could play another significant role against Arsenal.
“I think the game will be different to [Leeds]. Again, we will have a few set-pieces. I know that we can do it better, and it’s also not always talking about big problems,” said Glasner.
Full focus for the Emirates Stadium pic.twitter.com/npGKrghqen
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) December 22, 2025
“We have to do it better. We have to give the players solutions. That’s the job of myself and my staff.
“And then we’ll give them the confidence that they can defend it and also score goals. We won against Brentford with two set-piece goals, and defended there very well. They’re a team that’s really good in set-pieces.
“It’s always a good challenge, and if we take this challenge, we can grow and learn from it. This will be our approach.”
