0 aerials, 6x possession lost: Arteta should axe £30m Arsenal star after 1-1 vs Man City

Arsenal drew 1-1 against Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Gunners dropped five points behind table-toppers Liverpool after a frustrating result at home.

They were second-best for most of the opening half against City, and only improved towards the interval.

Erling Haaland gave City the lead after just nine minutes. The Gunners looked on course for a defeat before a 93rd-minute equaliser from Gabriel Martinelli.

Arsenal salvaged a point in the end, but we were surprised by some of the decisions made by manager Mikel Arteta, including the decision to start Mikel Merino.

Merino has developed the knack for finding the back of the net for club and country, but his reduced mobility in the centre of the park has been a concern.

Against Pep Guardiola’s side, he was slow with his decision-making. The Spaniard won just three out of eight duels contested and had a zero success rate on aerials (0/2).

Merino also lost possession on six occasions in 45 minutes. He almost gifted the Cityzens with a second goal with an attempt to dribble past three players. Tijjani Reijnders hit his effort straight at David Raya.

The £30 million midfielder looked out of sorts at different stages of the opening half and was rightly replaced by Eberechi Eze at the break. He received a 5/10 rating from football.london for his display.

Arsenal take on Port Vale in the Carabao Cup third round on the road on Wednesday. There will be plenty of changes. We could see a completely different starting XI from Sunday against City.

The Gunners will then take on Newcastle United in the Premier League at St James’ Park. Merino needs to be dropped against the Magpies after his subdued performance in midfield yesterday.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com

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