Arsenal have named the four nominees for their latest Player of the Month award, but there appears to be a clear favourite from the early voting.

Arsenal's Spanish manager Mikel Arteta (2L) stands with his coaching team during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium in London on August 31, 2022. - (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal’s Spanish manager Mikel Arteta (2L) stands with his coaching team during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium in London on August 31, 2022. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

In a post on the official club website on Tuesday, Arsenal confirmed their Player of the Month nominees for September – Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Fabio Vieira, and Granit Xhaka.

There obviously weren’t many games played in September due to all the postponements and the international break, so Arsenal only ended up playing three matches.

The Gunners began with the unfortunate defeat to Manchester United, before bouncing back with wins over FC Zurich and Brentford.

Jesus played very well in Manchester despite failing to score, and he netted in his only other start against Brentford, so he was certainly a deserving nominee.

Saka did score on that trip to Old Trafford, as well as providing two assists against Brentford, so it was no surprise to see him up for the award either.

Vieira made a strong start to his Arsenal career in September with a positive cameo against United, a solid debut against FC Zurich, and a fantastic goal against Brentford.

But Xhaka is the clear frontrunner for the award so far, earning a huge share of the early votes.

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Arsenal’s Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka applauds the fans following the English Premier League football match between Brentford and Arsenal at the Gtech Community Stadium in London on September 18, 2022. (Photo by IAN KINGTON/AFP via Getty Images)

Xhaka provided an assist against Brentford, and he was the only one of the four to play 90 minutes in all three games in September. His performances in his new position on the left of midfield have been excellent, and they’ve facilitated Arsenal’s recent progress.

Perhaps one of the other three will make a comeback in the voting, which is still open here. But there’s no doubt Xhaka would be a deserving winner if he ends up taking home the award.