Mikel Arteta has a decision to make regarding whether to start January signing Leandro Trossard ahead of Gabriel Martinelli against Manchester City. Arsenal are preparing for their biggest game of the season so far but the Spaniard has a slight dilemma on his hands in attack after Trossard's goal against Brentford at the weekend.
The Gunners dropped points for a second consecutive match in the Premier League but were not helped by Lee Mason's costly VAR error that saw Ivan Toney's equaliser be allowed to stand. Arteta has spoken out on Mason's error ahead of the huge clash against City on Wednesday but is looking ahead rather than using it as an excuse in the title race.
Trossard's performance against the Bees has sparked speculation that he could start ahead of Martinelli given the Brazilian's lack of form in front of goal in recent weeks. The Belgian has already scored against City this season during his time under Roberto De Zerbi and Arteta may select him ahead of Martinelli at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow night.
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Ex-Gunners star Bacary Sagna thinks Arteta should still start Martinelli given that his pace and skills will be a real threat against City's defence. Sagna told Premier League Odds: "I would still start Gabriel Martinelli for Arsenal in the first team, his skills, speed and finishing are a real treat to watch.
"He will be a key solution to playing against Manchester City because their centre-backs are not the fastest. Arsenal need to use his speed and keep Leandro Trossard on the bench."
Former Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre has agreed with Sagna and feels that Martinelli's confidence will not have dropped despite him not scoring since the win away against Brighton. Silvestre told bettingexpert: “I still think Martinelli would get the preference for this kind of a game.
“The last few games, I don’t think they will affect Martinelli’s confidence and the pecking order for Mikel Arteta. If Martinelli was to give a hundred percent like he does, maybe he wouldn’t last 90 minutes but then you have an excellent backup in Trossard.”
Both players offer different attacking threats for the Gunners and are capable of causing City problems in defence. Arteta may look to stick with his trusted attacking trio of Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka, but Trossard is continuing to try and force his way into the starting lineup with impressive displays from the bench.
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