Former Manchester City defender, Joleon Lescott, has said that every team barring Arsenal, who were on a roll, would have been happy to see the season momentarily pause for the tournament in Qatar.

“The title is still a real possibility for the Gunners, so motivation will not be an issue upon their return against West Ham.

“There’s no reason they can’t continue that fine form in the second half of the campaign. But they will obviously have to negotiate the first few months without Gabriel Jesus, their main man up front.

“His absence is a big loss for Mikel Arteta. He was huge to their improvement this season and it’s the same old question of whether the players on the bench can match the levels he was setting.

“I’m fairly sure the Gunners would have been in for another striker in January anyway — the injury will just force their hand in that regard.

“I like Eddie Nketiah but if he’s not able to feature to a high level in every single game, it doesn’t leave them with much else in terms of threat up front,” he said.

He added: “It’s hard to tell how much of an impact the mid-season tournament will have on the returning World Cup stars. But given most have been playing regularly; the games should still have a great tempo to them.

“From my experience when you’ve had a long break, you’re just excited to get playing again. I think we’ve seen that from the returning players who were in Carabao Cup action this week.

“There is bound to be some physical fatigue, considering they were in action every four days in Qatar, but mentally there will also need to be some adjustments.” (AFP)