Who will score more – Zaha or Jesus?

Crystal Palace: Jay Crame, The Eagles Beak, external

Arsenal will still be regretting not spending the money to sign Wilfried Zaha a few seasons back. Instead, they opted for a repayment plan option – like they have so often done – and brought in Nicolas Pepe for a club record fee of £72m, when all instalments have been settled, unless he is sold before that happens.

Since then, Zaha v Pepe has been the comparison for Arsenal fans in a desperate bid to prove they made the right choice. Of course, the Ivorian has had a few successes, but it’s nowhere near as many as the Gunners would have had if they had signed his compatriot, the proven Zaha.

Their hesitancy has been Palace’s gain. Zaha heads into the new campaign off the back of a 14-goal Premier League season – his best yet and impressive for a player who does not always play as a central striker.

Step forward the next challenger: Gabriel Jesus. He certainly has pedigree, and is likely to be a much worthier competitor – but that does depend on Arsenal playing to his strengths.

The pressure is on the former Manchester City man as the main striker. Zaha has none of that so, of course, we will back Wilf.

Arsenal: Charlene Smith, AFTV, external

This isn’t even a question.

Jesus will 100% score more goals than Zaha. Our new number nine is a clinical striker who has played consistently in the Champions League and has been coached by Guardiola. It’s fair to say that he did not get the minutes he deserved at Manchester City, but he is now at a big club with a fanbase that love and support him.

At Arsenal it will be completely different than at City. He is our main man, he will get minutes and score goals. I reckon he will be in contention for the Golden Boot this season.

Zaha is a great player, Palace’s talisman, and I mean no disrespect to him – he is a player that I like. But the project at Arsenal is going to bring the best out of our players and Zaha will not be hitting those heights.

Pre-season has been a little taster of what to expect from Arsenal. I am confident that Jesus will get more goals than Zaha this season, starting with the opening Premier League game on Friday!

Who’s bigger – Newcastle or Nottingham Forest? Check out the rest of this weekend’s debates here