Gabriel Martinelli preaches Arsenal patience before key Everton revenge bid

Gabriel Martinelli has urged Arsenal to stay patient in attack as teams look to sit deep and frustrate them during the title run-in.

Arsenal remain two points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League after beating Leicester 1-0 on Saturday.

The Foxes made life difficult for Mikel Arteta’s side, though, and Martinelli got the only goal of the game. Leicester were the latest team to sit deep against Arsenal, with Everton and Brentford both doing so to good effect.

The Gunners are going to have to deal with more of that as the business end of the season begins and Martinelli has called for calm.

“When we get in the final third, we need to be composed and keep going to find the right pass and the right player in the right position,” he told the BBC. “I think we need to be patient.

Call for calm: Gabriel Martinelli wants Arsenal to avoid frustration against defensive sides (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

“I think most of the games we have the ball all of the time and we need to just be patient, keep going and going. This is what we did today [against Leicester].”

Arsenal host Everton, who beat them 1-0 earlier this month, on Wednesday and the Toffees are expected to pack the midfield and defence to try and stifle the Gunners.

The match is Arsenal’s game in hand on City and they can open a five-point lead on them by winning.

“I think we need to go into every game thinking as a final,” said Martinelli. “We need to keep going.”