“I don’t want to be rude” - Gary Lineker makes his stance clear on Viktor Gyokeres’ quality despite goal for Arsenal in win over Everton

Gary Lineker says Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres is ‘not in the same league’ as Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and believes the latter could be the ‘difference’ in the title race.

Arsenal hold a two-point lead going into Christmas, with Manchester City behind them in second position. The Cityzens initially leapfrogged the Gunners to the top of the table after a convincing 3-0 win over West Ham, with Haaland scoring a brace. Arsenal reclaimed the summit of the standings after Gyökeres scored the only goal in their win over Everton later in the day.

Unlike Haaland, who has been scoring in back-to-back matches for City, it was Gyökeres's first goal for Arsenal since November 1. Haaland leads the scoring chart in the league with 19 goals as opposed to Gyökeres’ five.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker waxed lyrical about Haaland’s incredible goal-scoring rate this season before asserting that the Norwegian is head and shoulders above Gyökeres.

“Erling Haaland has already got 19 goals in the Premier League and he scored a bucketload for Norway in the [World Cup] qualifying games. It’s incredible what he’s doing. I mean, he could ultimately be the difference between Man City and Arsenal this season. Gyökeres has come in and I look at him, and he's you know, I don't want to be rude, but he's not in the same league as Erling Haaland. He was given the penalty yesterday wasn't he, to try and get him scoring after his recent injury,” he said.

Gyökeres scored the most goals (54) in Europe last season, but the Swede has struggled to replicate the same this season, having scored just seven goals in 20 appearances across competitions.

Viktor Gyökeres explains penalty kick decision in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Everton

Viktor Gyökeres scored the only goal of the match against Everton from the spot after Jake O’Brien handled in the box. The former Sporting CP man took the spot kick despite Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard being on the pitch.

Speaking after the match, Gyökeres explained the simplicity behind the decision, saying they had a conversation and allowed him to take it.

“We spoke a little bit on the pitch. It was an easy talk and then I took it. To be fair, a few months ago I took one, and it was nice to take one again and to score. We don't think about it too much, we just wait for the decision. Then you know it's a penalty and you just wait for the normal procedure. Nothing special, really,” he said.

Manager Mikel Arteta was happy with the penalty decision, saying he loves when players take ownership.

Edited by Ezekiel Olamide