Mikel Arteta has been urged to drop Gabriel Martinelli and start Leandro Trossard in Arsenal’s crucial clash against Manchester City on Wednesday night.
After the Gunners’ draw with Brentford was followed by City comfortably beating Aston Villa on Sunday, the gap at the top of the Premier League was cut to three points, though Arsenal do still have a game in hand.
It means Pep Guardiola’s side will go top of the table, for the first time since the second week of the season, should they win at the Emirates.
Trossard came off the bench against Brentford and scored his first goal for Arsenal, with the Belgian still waiting to make his first League start for the club.
Martinelli has started every League match so far this season, though he is now on a run of seven matches without a goal for the Gunners and his performances have not been quite as explosive since the turn of the year.
With Trossard impressing in his cameos off the bench, former Premier League goalkeeper Shaka Hislop believes Arteta should make a big call on the left wing against City.
“When he has come on, Leandro Trossard has had an impact,” Hislop told ESPN.
“So if you’re Arteta, I think the time is right to think: ‘Well, do I now play Trossard from the very start?’
“Now, Martinelli is quick, and defences coming up against that kind of pace, you have to adjust just for that pure speed that Martinelli brings. But he hasn’t had much of an impact. He’s not been playing well and is struggling a bit.
“So the easy change I think given the form of Trossard, given the fact that he’s finally got on the scoresheet for Arsenal, is that you have to play him from the very start.”
