Alarming statistic shows Arsenal could be in trouble in the Premier League title race – Mikel Arteta needs to find a solution

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Arsenal could be about to struggle in the Premier League as they enter a period of difficult fixtures with limited attacking options.

Mikel Arteta has just Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri and Raheem Sterling available to him as a senior forward options.

This front three looked lacklustre for large parts of the Gunners’ win over Leicester City on Saturday afternoon, with Raheem Sterling producing a dire display in particular.

However, Mikel Merino saved the day with two late goals, coming off the bench to win the game for Arsenal as a makeshift striker.

Whether the Spaniard can replicate these exploits as a number nine remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Arteta needs to elicit more attacking threat from his team than he did at the King Power Stadium.

• READ MORE: Remarkable thing Raheem Sterling did vs Leicester proves Enzo Maresca’s warning to Arsenal was right

Mikel Merino and Leandro Trossard are Arsenal’s top scoring available players

For much of Arsenal’s game against Leicester, the North Londoners looked sterile and impotent in the final third, lacking a cutting edge or real dynamism.

Without Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli, this was somewhat inevitable, but it would’ve been concerning to Arteta as he prepares his team for more challenging fixtures in the coming weeks.

The likes of Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Chelsea await, as does a Champions League round of 16 knockout tie.

Arteta will be questioning where the goals will come from, and an alarming statistic on this topic has been raised online.

Of those currently available to the Arsenal boss, Trossard and Merino are the club’s top scoring players in the league with four a piece.

After that, Gabriel Magalhaes, Thomas Partey and Nwaneri have found the back of the net three times.

Arsenal are evidently lacking a reliable source of goals, with their four injured forwards leaving a significant void in this regard.

Nwaneri shone against Leicester, delivering an exceptional display from out wide, but relying on the teenager to score from outside the box every week isn’t sustainable.

Mikel Merino could become Arsenal’s primary goalscorer

Saka is expected to return in March, as is Martinelli.

However, until then, a new goalscorer will have to emerge at the Emirates, and after Sunday’s showing, Merino appears the most likely.

The Euro 2024 winner is untested beyond a 20-minute cameo up front, but he did display some promising attributes that suggest he could take the goal-scoring mantle.

Powerful and dominant in the air, Merino’s threat from crosses is obvious, and Arsenal could lean into this in the next few matches.

Meanwhile, the way the former Real Sociedad man found space at the back post, arrived perfectly on the end of Trossard’s cross and guided it past Mads Hermansen, shows that he possesses some of the predatory instincts required to thrive as a number nine.

With Sterling not delivering, Arteta might as well experiment with Merino up front again against West Ham, with this the team’s best way of finding the goals they need.