Paul Merson believes Mikel Arteta will make a contentious team selection decision for Arsenal’s game against Manchester City on Sunday.
The Gunners host Pep Guardiola’s side, looking to make it five wins from their opening six matches across all competitions this season.
Arsenal beat Athletic Club on Tuesday night in Bilbao, while City cruised past Napoli on Thursday, meaning the Gunners will have had two extra days to prepare for this Premier League showdown in N5.
Arteta has an incredibly deep squad to select from for the visit of the Citizens, and thus, he’ll be forced to make some difficult decisions when picking his starting eleven.
Paul Merson thinks Gabriel Martinelli will be on the bench against Manchester City
Gabriel Martinelli made the difference for Arsenal off the bench against Athletic Club.
Introduced in the 70th minute in place of Eberechi Eze, the Brazilian stormed away from the home side’s backline to slot beyond Unai Simon, giving the Gunners the lead 36 seconds after coming on.
He then created the second goal for Leandro Trossard, beating his man on the outside and playing a neat cut-back to the Belgian, who stabbed home.
Arteta would be forgiven for rewarding Martinelli for this impact with a start against City, but Paul Merson doesn’t believe the Spaniard will do this.
Writing for Sportskeeda, the pundit claimed both the 24-year-old and Trossard will be left on the bench once again.
“Even though Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard scored off the bench in the Champions League, I don’t expect either of them to start against City,” Merson wrote.
“Mikel Arteta will almost definitely stick with Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke as the front three. Arsenal have incredible depth.
“Even without Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Declan Rice, they looked so comfortable against Forest.”
Gabriel Martinelli’s new role should be as a super sub
Martinelli has been described as ‘special’ in the past, although he’s certainly lost some of the qualities that made him so exciting in his younger years.
That said, he seemingly rediscovered some of his energy against Athletic Club, and this cameo performance may have perfectly encapsulated what his role should be moving forward.
Extremely quick and effective at making diagonal runs in behind, Martinelli is the ideal player to bring on to the pitch late in games when teams are tiring.
Whether Arsenal are looking for a winner or trying to hold onto a lead, the former Ituano man’s pace and off-the-ball movement will be a nightmare for defenders who have had to deal with the more methodical Eze for 70 minutes.
Martinelli’s defensive work is also excellent, and this will also be hugely valuable in closing games out.
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