Paul Merson has warned Arsenal about the threat Raheem Sterling will present when Mikel Arteta’s team visits Chelsea in the Premier League after the international break.
The Blues will play host to the Gunners at Stamford Bridge in the London rivals’ next Premier League fixture. Arsenal travel to Chelsea on October 21 trying to maintain an unbeaten start to the season. While Mauricio Pochettino’s side rank in just 11th after three wins from eight.
Sterling helped Chelsea enter the international break on a high with a scintillating display at Burnley. The 28-year-old moved to three goals for the season so far with their third effort at Turf Moor. He also scored a brace against Luton Town in August and has one assist thus far.
Merson warns Arsenal about the threat Sterling gives Chelsea
Sterling captivated at Burnley, despite only scoring one goal, having also forced an own goal from Ameen Al Dakhil. The 82-cap England attacker Gareth Southgate has again overlooked also assisted Nicolas Jackson with a precise cross. He gave the Clarets a nightmare all day.
Now, Merson believes teams will fear having to play Chelsea as Sterling finds form ahead of Arsenal visiting Stamford Bridge. The Gunners great also thinks Arteta should be fearful that Pochettino’s players have played better against top teams after drawing 1-1 with Liverpool.
“Arsenal come to Stamford Bridge in a couple of weeks and they will have a go at Chelsea,” Merson said in a Sky Sports column. “So, it will be interesting. But against the better teams, like Liverpool who had a right go, those are the games they have played well in this season.
“So, it will be interesting. But where Chelsea are in the league, teams will not want to play them as on their day, they can beat anybody and when Raheem Sterling is playing like he did at Burnley, then he is unplayable.”
Sterling rejected Arteta’s interest in his transfer in 2022
Sterling will hope to put Merson’s warning into practice when Arsenal face Chelsea later this month. He failed to shine in either of the London rivals’ matches last season after rejecting a transfer to Emirates Stadium for Stamford Bridge. Arteta coveted a reunion with the winger.
Reports by The Athletic in May 2022 claimed that Sterling expressed no interest in a transfer to Arsenal. Arteta drove the Gunners’ interest in a deal with Manchester City having worked with the forward at Etihad Stadium. But Sterling did not share the coach’s desire to reunite.
Instead, Chelsea paid £47.5m to Thomas Tuchel’s delight in July 2022 and awarded Sterling a five-year contract worth £325k-a-week. He has justified their investment with 12 goals and five assists in 47 games. Yet Sterling never looked likely to threaten Arsenal at all last season.
Arsenal won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in November 2022 as Sterling failed to come out on top in his fight with Oleksandr Zinchenko. Martin Odegaard then took full advantage of an error by Sterling as the Gunners won 3-1 in May. He failed to track the Arsenal captain’s quick run.
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