Jamie Carragher was wrong! Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres compared to Alan Shearer after Liverpool legend's previous criticisms

Carragher has gone on record with his opinion on Gyokeres, saying as recently as late December that Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz are better options up front for Mikel Arteta.

He claimed: "The one negative out of tonight for Arsenal is that Gyokeres should not be starting, when they have players like this.

"In a couple of games time, when Jesus is a bit more up to speed, he should be starting. He's a better player than Gyokeres - that's a fact."

"There's been questions in the past asking if [Jesus] is good enough for Arsenal to go and win the league. But right now, he's better than the guy they brought in who they thought was going to win them the league. Havertz or him as the central striker is a better player than Gyokeres. He lacks finesse and quality when you think of what they've got on the bench. I think Arsenal need to improve on Gyokeres and they've got players that can in Jesus."

The Swedish striker did struggle to assert himself during the first half of the season but things have turned around quickly. His brace in Arsenal's 4-1 demolition of Tottenham Hotspur means Gyokeres now has eight goals in his last 12 games for Arsenal and Carragher has now held his arms up to claim he may have been wrong in his initial assessment of the former Sporting CP star.

He told Sky Sports: "The thing I like about Viktor Gyokeres is his mentality.

"I don’t think he’s a world-class striker or an amazing striker for Arsenal for the next five or years.

"But I absolutely love his mentality. There’s no lack of confidence with him, he just gets the ball and bangs it in, it’s Alan Shearer-like, that sort of mentality.

"As Gary Neville said on commentary, I think that’s the best we’ve seen Gyokeres play in an Arsenal shirt, it was an absolutely fantastic finish."

Gyokeres' earlier inconsistency looked to have opened the door for one of Jesus or Havertz, who have both had to deal with injuries this season. However, he seems to have nailed down his place in Arteta's starting XI, with Carragher saluting the Spaniard for continuing to show faith in his summer arrival, also comparing him to record Premier League goalscorer Shearer.

Carragher added: "He could be [vital]. And credit to the manager. I felt they had to come away from Gyokeres and I thought at some stage it might cost them.

"But the manager has stuck by him week after week and the strength he showed in this game, it was very Alan Shearer-like.

"We were looking at the strikers Arsenal had and I felt he was quite far down the pecking order. And a few times I was quite surprised that Gyokeres was still in the team.

"But fair play to the manager because he’s kept him in and he’s repaid him in one of Arsenal’s biggest games of the season."

While Gyokeres is some way short of posting the ridiculous numbers he did for Sporting with Arsenal this season, the turnaround in form is nothing but a good thing for the Gunners before the crucial final months of the season. The north Londoners still have the chance to win multiple trophies this term and moved five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table after their derby victory over Spurs, albeit having played a game more.

Their next game is another London derby, this time against Chelsea, on Sunday.