Do Arsenal need a striker in January transfer window?

Another December, another sticky period for Arsenal and the same debate emerges: is a striker needed in January?

Saturday's goalless draw with Everton sparked another setback for Mikel Arteta's side in the title race. The gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool is not any bigger but it could have been reduced had the Gunners found their shooting boots.

Arteta's Arsenal had 13 shots on goal and created enough expected goals (xG) to justify being deserved winners - but once again their attack fell short.

For the last three Premier League games, Arsenal's overall quality from open play has been questioned. They relied on corners to find the net in the 2-0 win over Manchester United and the 1-1 draw with Fulham, before their blank against the Toffees at the weekend.

When Arsenal struggle to break down a low block, at least they have an expertise from set-pieces to rely on. Against Everton, however, Sean Dyche's side locked them down on the dead-ball scenarios - restricting them to their third-lowest xG total from set-pieces of the season. Their not-so-secret weapon was not available.

During setbacks like these, pointing towards the centre forward area is the first place critics go to. Kai Havertz, not naturally a centre forward but one who has held the line well this calendar year, has just one goal in his last eight Premier League starts.

"Just the little details in the box, we didn't manage to do them," said Havertz after his latest blank against Everton.

"We didn't find the final pass. Sometimes I think the positioning in the box wasn't perfect, so we have to look at that and make it better in the next game."

Havertz does, however, have more goals in all competitions this season than Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling combined. While Havertz has his own critics, he is not necessarily receiving much help from others.

A guilty contender is Jesus, the German's No 9 understudy, who has just one goal in his last 33 Arsenal appearances in all competitions. Given he has just five starts outside of the Carabao Cup this season, it appears that Arteta's faith in the Brazilian is waning.

However, despite the apparent need for depth up front, there were calls for Arsenal to sign a striker this time last year. The Gunners ended the league campaign on 91 goals, partly due to their ability to spread them around the team, especially through set-pieces.

In any case, the noises coming out of Arsenal at the moment suggest that they will only move in the January transfer window if serious injuries impact the squad, or if a long-term transfer target - such as Martin Odegaard's arrival on loan from Real Madrid in 2021 - becomes available earlier than expected.

Arteta - a staunch defender of his players - looks set to stand by his team once again. So if it's not a striker, how do Arsenal fix their goalscoring issues?

While there is acclaim for a striker, one area that could definitely be improved is the left wing.

Martinelli and Trossard have both been rotated in that position over the last few weeks, with neither staking a real claim for the spot; the pair have one Premier League goal each since the middle of October.

And what it has meant is there is a reliance on Arsenal's right flank, where Odegaard and Bukayo Saka are chief creators.

Year on year, the Gunners have been relying more and more on that flank. On one hand, they are playing to their strengths. On the other, they are becoming more predictable.

Perhaps a run-out for Sterling, granted just one Premier League start so far and in line to get another one in Wednesday's Carabao Cup quarter-final with Crystal Palace, could shake things up on that flank.

After all, Arsenal's free-flowing side of two seasons ago had Martinelli end the campaign on 15 Premier League goals. The Brazilian has managed just nine in the 18 months since then, so there is an argument Arsenal's attack is currently imbalanced, weighted heavily on Saka's side, rather than lacking in quality through the middle.

Another area of concern is a reliance on captain Odegaard. The Gunners felt the creative gap in their team when the Norwegian missed six weeks of the season from the middle of September, but it was even more on show against Everton on Saturday.

Arteta took Odegaard off on 65 minutes and while Arsenal's captain was not having his best game, the Gunners are not the same outfit when he's out of the team.

Following that substitution, Arsenal had just two shots - which combined to 0.14 xG - compared to an effort on goal every five minutes or so when he played.

Odegaard was replaced by teenager Ethan Nwaneri, who Arteta was reluctant to use while his captain was out injured, but was happy to throw in the deep end late on against Everton.

It goes to show that while there could be external influences that could aid Arsenal's current malaise, particularly from open play, there are internal factors that Arteta and his coaching staff need to fix first.

Watch Arsenal's next two games live on Sky Sports. Mikel Arteta's side face Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on Wednesday night, kick-off 7.30pm. The Gunners then face the Eagles in the Premier League this Saturday, kick-off at 5.30pm. Stream with NOW.