**Mikel Arteta**talked to the press before the Carabao Cup clash against Crystal Palace.
**Arsenal**are top of the Premier League for Christmas after enjoying a week to prepare for their 1-0 win over **Everton**on the weekend. Now, they turn to cup competition against the Eagles as the winter schedule intensifies, and the club could do with the services of a forward who pads out the squad at a critical moment. Having bagged a hat-trick against Palace last year, can Gabriel Jesus deliver again?
“We are used to it. I think it's the only week that we had a week to prepare. It was this week, the rest until February at least is going to be like this. We are used to it, to face it. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a competition. So, we'll be ready.
“Now the most important one is the Carabao Cup against Palace because it's the next game that we have. Take it game by game. Winning and performing every game helps you for the next one. So now full focus on that.
“Yes, [Gabi] is [ready to start.] You can see now, not only in games, every day in training, how much he wants it. He's going to deserve a chance soon.
“I was watching when he was seven months already on the pitch and the way he was moving and how much he wanted it. I think he wrote a beautiful letter there explaining what football means to him and how it affects his life. I think it was something beautiful.
“That's probably the biggest quality of Gabi, bringing people together, connecting with people and generating a lot of uncertainty in the opponent. When you see him today, the amount of spaces that he was involved in, that's his biggest quality. So we need to exploit that.
“ I think when he joined us, I think he lifted the belief, the spirit and the energy of the club and the team. I think he gave something very different to what we already had, and it was really impressive.
“And then he had some very bad injuries that hasn't allowed him to have the consistency that we need from a very important player. But he's back, I think his fighting his spirit, he's decided to always prepare the best way. He's unbelievable and the team has got it now and we need to use it.”