Who will score the goals for Arsenal this season?

Arsenal kicked-off their Premier League campaign earlier today with a home game against Sunderland.

The game will be Arsenal’s first game without inspirational captain and striker Robin van Persie.

The sale of the Dutchman now has people asking who will score the goals for the Gunners this season?

Goals

Robin van Persie was the top goalscorer in the Premier League last season with 30 last season, those goals will be very hard to replace this season. The Dutchman played a crucial part in the Gunners securing a third place in the Premier League and a Champions League spot.

Replacements

As soon as Arsenal signed Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud it appeared obvious that Van Persie would definitely leave the club. When Giroud signed I actually wrote an article asking if he was Van Persie’s replacement. I got my answer this week.

Olivier Giroud is very much an unknown quantity to the majority of Premier League fans. The French international played a crucial role for Ligue One Montpellier, as the club with the eleventh lowest budget in the league clinched the title.

Giroud scored 22 goals and was the main focal point of the Montpellier attack. The 25 year-old had previously been linked with moves to Celtic, Middlesbrough and Everton. Arsene Wenger has pulled off some shrewd signings in his time at the Emirates and this could be another one.

Although, the English top flight is a big step up from France’s finest and Giroud will find it far harder to find the back of the net in the Premier League, than in Ligue One.

The signing of Lukas Podolski is a very good one for the Gunners. The Germany international cost the Gunners £12.5million, but could be one of the signings of the summer. He was prolific in the Bundesliga last season in a poor Koln team, scoring 18 league goals and 13 the season before that.

The 27 year-old has been prolific for his national team as well, scoring an impressive 44 goals in 101 games. His last experience of playing for a major club didn’t end well, as he struggled for goals and form at Germany giants Bayern Munich. He then moved back to his first club Koln.

He has matured since then though, and became a far more complete player since his days in Bavaria. There are question marks about whether his best position is as a main striker or playing as a left-winger. He is likely to play both roles with the Gunners.

Midfielders

Arsenal strikers may need time to settle in the England and the Premier League. That means that the Gunners midfielders will be expected to chip in with some goals. The likes of Mikel Arteta and Theo Walcott are capable of weighting in with their fair share.

New signing Santi Cazorla is also capable of finding the back of the net. Ivorian winger Gervinho will have to improve his goal tally from last season. Youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will also be hoping to play more games and score more goals this season.

Balance

Some fans have suggested that Arsenal will be a more balanced side without Robin van Persie this season. The argument being that the team won’t be relying on the Holland international strikers goals and other players will have to step their game up.

I can see their point. Once Lukas Podolski and Oliver Giroud have settled at the Emirates Stadium I’m sure they will be very dangerous this season and score goals this season.

Vital

Despite Van Persie’s exit, I still think that the Gunners will finish in the top four of the Premier League. It is absolutely vital for the Gunners that they qualify for the Champions League this season.

I believe that Arsenal will manage to score enough goals this season. With the help of the midfield, Podolski and Giroud will score a decent amount of goals this season and probably fire the Gunners into the Champions League.

Who will score the goals for Arsenal this season?