Robin van Persie will be aiming to show his omission from the Fifa Ballon d'Or shortlist was a mistake when he returns to the Arsenal starting line-up at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
On Tuesday, the Netherlands international forward's name was not included on a 23-man list drawn up by world football's governing body to decide who deserves to be labelled the best player on the planet in 2011.
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, also chose that day to rest his captain, who came on as a second-half substitute in the 0-0 draw with Marseille in the Champions League, but with seven goals in his last three Premier League games, including a hat-trick in the 5-3 win at Chelsea last weekend, van Persie will be sure to return against Roy Hodgson's mid-table Albion side.
Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was convinced that van Persie, who has 16 goals to his name for club and country so far this season, was better than any of the 23 named.
"I think it's ridiculous - he has probably got the best goal-scoring record at the moment," the Poland international declared.
"We know how good he is - even at Chelsea when they equalised late on, we still felt like we were going to go on and win.
"He just came up with two goals right at the end, and I believe he is at the moment the best striker in the world."
Van Persie may be at the top of his game at the moment but other Arsenal attackers, most notably Andrey Arshavin, have continued to see consistency elude them.
Arshavin, the Russia international, admitted there was plenty of room for improvement at a time when Marouane Chamakh, the Morocco international forward, is receiving treatment on a knee injury.
"My performances for Arsenal have been average," Arshavin said. "I have done some good things, but I don't assess my game on goals or assists. I look at the whole picture.
"Normally when I'm on the pitch I take control of a game but I haven't really done that here. I'm an extra tool in the team rather than the main one, so it has been difficult."
Arsenal's early season crisis is fast becoming a memory after a run which has seen them move up to seventh place, just three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
West Bromwich have pulled themselves up the table too after beginning the campaign with narrow defeats against Manchester United and Chelsea, although they ended October with a 2-0 home defeat by Liverpool.
Michael Appleton, the assistant manager, was keen for his players to replicate the scoreline of their most recent away game, the 2-1 win at Aston Villa last month, but warned that too much focus on van Persie could be counter-productive.
"They will have all the information they need to know about him, whether that's us talking to the players or being shown numerous videos on van Persie and Arsenal's strengths as an attacking team," he said.
"But it's more about what we do in possession of the ball rather than being too concerned about what one player has done for one side. If you concentrate too much on van Persie, they have three or four others who can easily destroy you on their day."
Kieran Gibbs, the Arsenal left-back, also missed the Marseille match because of a stomach problem and Abou Diaby, Jack Wilshere and Bacary Sagna are also out injured.
Shane Long, Albion's Republic of Ireland forward, is out with a knee injury and Paul Scharner, the Austria midfielder, is a doubt because of a knee problem.