Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang insists his confidence has not been adversely affected by his recent goal drought and is adamant he is due an imminent return to form.
The Gabon international signed a new long-term contract in September, ending months of speculation surrounding his future but he has found the back of the net only once in the Premier League since putting pen to paper.
Indeed, Aubameyang hasn’t scored in any of his last five Premier League matches with his only goal since the opening weekend of the campaign coming in the Europa League victory against Rapid Vienna just over a week ago.
Arsenal, overall, have found goals hard to come by so far this term and fired blanks in the recent defeats against Manchester City and Leicester City. The Gunners face a daunting trip to Old Trafford on Sunday to face a Manchester United side which has responded impressively to the mauling they suffered at the hands of Tottenham prior to the international break.
Mikel Arteta’s side are already losing ground in the race to finish in the top four and can hardly afford another damaging defeat against a supposed rival, but Aubameyang believes there is no need to be concerned over his form or that of his team.
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He said:’We are not finding scoring goals easy at the moment. This happens in teams — I haven’t scored for a few games in the league, either.
‘But we’re an experienced team, with experienced attacking players and we know we will turn this around. I’m not worried about that.’
Aubameyang’s deployment on the left wing has baffled many Arsenal supporters who feel he would represent a better option in the central position, currently occupied by Alexandere Lacazette, and Arteta admits he is considering restoring his most potent attacking weapon to his favourite position.
‘The moment he doesn’t score in three or four games, people will say, ‘He needs to play more central’. It was great for him to play on the left because he wasn’t picked up by central defenders. There was more freedom for him to do that. [Criticism] is a part of this industry.’
