Chris Sutton shares the 'important' thing that now needs to happen at Arsenal as he predicts tonight's score

Arsenal will try to narrow the gap between themselves and Premier League leaders Liverpool when they host Ipswich Town at the Emirates Stadium on Friday night.

The Gunners had a good week going into the Christmas schedule, beating Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals before thrashing the Eagles in the Premier League.

With Liverpool going seven points clear on Boxing Day, Arsenal cannot afford to drop any more points if they are to maintain the pressure on Arne Slot’s side.

Chris Sutton has now shared the “important” thing that needs to happen at Arsenal as he predicted how the Gunners would fare against Ipswich.

READ MORE: Arsenal predicted XI v Ipswich as £42m man returns and Gabriel Martinelli decision made

Gabriel Jesus needs to keep scoring for Arsenal as Chris Sutton predicts win over Ipswich

Sutton, writing on BBC Sport, said Bukayo Saka will be a big miss for Arsenal after suffering a hamstring injury.

He stressed that it’s important for Gabriel Jesus to maintain his recent goalscoring form while Saka is on the sidelines.

Sutton also backed Arsenal to have too much firepower for Ipswich, even without Saka, and predicted a 2-0 win for the hosts.

“Saturday was the kind of thumping that might put a massive dent in Ipswich’s confidence and this is a big test for them,” wrote Sutton.

“I know they have already won in north London this season, when they saw off Tottenham in November, but it is hard to see them getting anything at Emirates Stadium.

“It is important for Arsenal that Gabriel Jesus is back in the goals. They are going to miss the injured Bukayo Saka for the next few weeks but they will still have too much firepower for Ipswich.

“I still think they have got a chance of staying up and I still rate their manager, Kieran McKenna, very highly – but that Newcastle defeat was a big blow for them.

“They are still without a home win this season and that has to change quickly if they are going to have any chance of beating the drop.”

Arsenal team news v Ipswich

The biggest news for Arsenal on the injury front involves Saka, who is expected to be out for “many weeks”, according to Arteta.

In addition, Raheem Sterling is set for several weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury, while Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain long-term absentees.

However, Oleksandr Zinchenko could return for Arsenal this week, having not played since the start of the month.

Arsenal fans have backed Gabriel Martinelli to replace Saka on the right side of attack.