Rio Ferdinand and Gary Lineker disagree on Viktor Gyokeres Arsenal theory

Viktor Gyokeres scored his fourth Premier League goal of the season on Saturday during Arsenal's comfortable 2-0 away win against Burnley, another bottom-five opponent

Rio Ferdinand has dismissed criticism of Viktor Gyokeres being a 'flat-track bully' after Gary Lineker claimed that the Arsenal strike must start scoring in 'big games'. Gyokeres, 27, netted his fourth Premier League goal of the season on Saturday to help the Gunners beat Burnley 2-0.

In regards to the Premier League table, Burnley are in the bottom five. The same goes for the two other teams that Gyokeres has scored against domestically, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest.

When the Swede came up against Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United, he failed to score. The contrast has sparked accusations that Gyokeres is a 'flat-track bully', a piece of criticism that was levelled at him during his Sporting Lisbon days, in which he scored 97 goals in 102 games.

"I don't want to call him a flat-track bully, that's a bit unfair," Lineker explained, speaking on The Rest Is Football. "The criticism that people perhaps would say is that what he did in Portugal, he didn't really score many goals against the top teams, and so far his goals have been against Burnley, Forest and Leeds.

"He needs to do it in some of the big games, but I think he's had a reasonable start."

Ferdinand firmly disagrees with the ex-England star and believes that if Gyokeres continues scoring against 'rubbish and average teams' while his team-mates chip in with goals, Arsenal are bound to win the title. "I don't agree with all this, 'He's a flat track bully, etc' Who cares if he is?" the former Man United centre-back said on Rio Ferdinand Presents.

"That might be just what Arsenal need. Of all the great strikers who've played in the Premier League, none of them scored most of their goals against the biggest teams. When you win the league, the big games against your title rivals take care of themselves normally.

"Most of the time, you lose your games when you don't beat the teams you're meant to beat. Where did Arsenal drop points in the back end of last season? The smaller teams."

"If he's the type of player that's going to go and bully those types of teams, you should go and win the league. That's the missing part of the jigsaw you were looking for. So, all this, 'But he can't do it against the bigger teams', who cares? Someone else will find a way.

"Arsenal have got 11 different scorers in the Premier League. Nobody else has more than that. So that tells you they're sharing enough goals around. If he can bully the rubbish teams and the average teams, I think you're going to win the league."