Mikel Arteta needs to make a big change to his Arsenal line-up for their Champions League clash against PSV, according to Paul Merson, who “can’t head his around” his recent selection.
The Gunners will head to Eindhoven on Tuesday night for their last-16 first leg tie against PSV as they try and create a potentially crucial advantage coming into next week’s second leg.
It will be a difficult challenge for Arsenal, who are without some of their key players, including Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz.
As a result, Mikel Merino has been deployed as a makeshift striker in recent weeks. He scored a brace against Leicester City in that position before starting up top in games against West Ham and Nottingham Forest.
But former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson believes Merino should be dropped for the Champions League clash on Tuesday night.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Merson named another “lively” forward who should start in his place.
“This would be a nice draw for Arsenal if they had a full team but with no firepower now, I don’t see them blowing PSV away. It’s turned into a tricky tie,” he began.
“Arsenal have failed to score in their last two games and they only scored against Leicester, who have been letting goals in for fun, in the last 10 minutes.
“I hope Mikel Arteta stops playing Mikel Merino up front. I can’t get my head around that one. I know he came on against Leicester and scored twice but Leicester are Leicester, they’re not very good.
“I would play Raheem Sterling up front. He’s lively. Defenders will be happy to play against Merino every day of the week. He’s not a centre forward. At least Sterling’s played up there before.”
Merson added: “This is going to be a dangerous game. I’d expect Arsenal to go through but I don’t think it’s as much of a foregone conclusion as what it was. I can see it going a long way.”
Merson thinks Sterling should start instead of Merino. Image credit: Getty
Arsenal failed to score for the second Premier League game in a row against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night but after their 1-0 defeat to West Ham last month, Arteta backed Merino.
“Yes (he can still play there) – in relation to the opposition and the options we have, and then what the team generates as well,” Arteta said.
“Attacking players depend a lot on what the team is generating, the chemistry, the fluidity, the areas we are hitting, and how we interact with each other. It worked really well against Leicester, but the other day there were a lot of things missing.”
Thoughts on Merino being played as a No 9? Let us know in the comments.
