Paul Merson says Mikel Arteta must ‘take a chance’ on Martin Odegaard ifManchester City and Liverpool win their respective games before Arsenal’s trip to Chelsea this weekend.
Top-of-the table Liverpool will go ten points clear of fifth-placed Arsenal in the Premier League table should they beat Aston Villa in Saturday evening’s eagerly anticipated match at Anfield.
Reigning champions City, meanwhile, who sit second, travel to Brighton, who are without a win in their last three matches in all competitions.
It has been a difficult few weeks for Arsenal both on and off the pitch, with Arteta’s men losing to Inter Milan on Wednesday night and dropping points in each of their last league games versus Newcastle, Liverpool and Bournemouth.
Edu’s shock departure as Arsenal’s sporting director has threatened to further destablise the club and the north London giants are in desperate need of a morale-boosting performance at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Despite the result, former Arsenal star Merson was encouraged by Arsenal’s showing against Simone Inzaghi’s impressive Inter side after a shaky start at theSiro.
‘I thought they rode their luck in the first ten minutes when [Denzel] Dumfries hit the bar and they had another couple of shots,’ Merson said on Sky Sports News this morning.
‘After that, I thought Arsenal were good. Inter Milan are a decent team, they haven’t let in a goal this season in the Champions League, they were in the final the other year, they were unfortunate to get knocked out last year against Atletico Madrid.
‘It was a good performance. I thought the only thing that was missing is that little bit of guile. They dominated the game, should have come away with a draw but it’s just that little bit of guile.
‘Arsenal have earned the right now in Europe where teams are going to sit back against them, they’ve earned that respect, then they need an Odegaard who is going to put the ball through the eye of a needle.
‘At the moment, they haven’t got that when Odegaard isn’t playing.’
Arsenal have clearly lacked creativity in the middle of the park while Odegaard has been sidelined with an ankle injury and fans will have breathed a collective sigh of relief as the Norwegian replaced Kai Havertz in the closing stages in Milan.
Asked whether Odegaard should be thrown back into Arteta’s XI against Chelsea, Merson replied: ‘I think that comes down to this weekend and the results.
‘Arsenal play second on Super Sunday so they’ll know how Liverpool and City have got on. If they’ve both won then I think Odegaard has got to start the game.
‘Ten and nine points, if both those teams win, that’s a lot of points and, for me, it would be a must-win football match and you take a chance [on Odegaard].
‘Otherwise, what do you do? Do you bring him on for the last 20-30 minutes and then he goes and plays for Norway for a couple of games in seven or eight days? Unless he’s not going away with Norway and then maybe you sort of save him.
‘But if not, I think he’s got to be thrown back in. He’s that important to Arsenal.’
Speaking shortly after Arsenal’s loss to Inter, a bullish Arteta insisted his side were more than capable of defeating Chelsea if they produced a similar display in west London this weekend.
‘If we play the way we played against Inter then we have a big chance to win against Chelsea,’ the Arsenal head coach told reporters at his post-match press conference.
‘That’s the way we have to go. I told them that I’m proud of them, I haven’t seen them play in Europe in the manner that we played today.
‘We are very disappointed because we didn’t get what we wanted out of the game, that’s for sure.’
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