Darren Bent believes he knows where Mikel Arteta will play Eberechi Eze against Newcastle United on Sunday.
Arsenal travel to the north-east to take on Eddie Howe’s side at St. James’ Park, looking to end their three-match winless run on Tyneside.
The Gunners notoriously struggle in the hostile atmosphere inside the famous old ground, but they simply cannot afford to do so on Sunday, having already fallen five points behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
Arteta has been criticised for his conservative choices in recent weeks, and if he opts for a similar approach against the Magpies, then the pitchforks will certainly be out if the North Londoners don’t secure the result they want.
Darren Bent says Mikel Arteta will start Eberechi Eze on the left against Newcastle
Arsenal signed Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace for £67.5 million in the summer.
The attacking midfielder has enjoyed a promising start to life in North London, scoring once and registering two assists in just five appearances thus far.
That said, some have been sceptical of Arteta’s use of Eze, with many fans urging the Gunners boss to use the 27-year-old centrally.
The Spaniard obliged in the second half against Manchester City and against Port Vale in midweek, but Darren Bent believes he’ll revert to using the player out wide on Sunday.
“Part of me thinks he’s going to go solid,” Bent said on talkSPORT.
“Because of how big their midfield three are and how strong they are, part of me thinks [Mikel] Merino, [Declan] Rice, and [Martin] Zubimendi is what he’s going to do.
“And then maybe again, Merino, Rice, and Zubimendi. Yeah, and then maybe Eze on the left.”
Mikel Arteta has to start Eberechi Eze centrally over Mikel Merino against Newcastle
While Newcastle are a physical team, trying to out-battle them in the middle of the park isn’t the way to beat them.
The Gunners are better suited to try to play through the Magpies’ press with their superior technical quality, and this means that Arteta must start as many technical players as possible.
This means Mikel Merino’s robustness is not needed for this game, while Eze’s guile and craft in the final third is.
Arsenal need to create more chances than they have done in games against Liverpool and City, and the only way they do this is by deploying Eze as an advanced number eight, and starting one of Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Martinelli out wide.
If Arteta opts not to do this, he’ll certainly come under significant scrutiny.
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