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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Mikel Arteta can change his mind to hand Leandro Trossard an Arsenal recall against Chelsea

Mikel Arteta can opt to freshen things up in an attempt to get Arsenal's faltering pursuit of the Premier League title back on track.

The Gunners are back in action on Tuesday night, six days removed from losing 4-1 against Manchester City, facing Chelsea in a game they must win to retain any realistic chance of being crowned champions of England for the first time since the 2003/2004 season.

In fact, Arteta's side will most likely need to pick up maximum points from their final five fixtures to win the Premier League title and even that might not be enough as they are also reliant on Man City slipping up at least twice between now and the end of the campaign.

READ MORE: Kroenkes prove money not the key to Arsenal progression as Todd Boehly oversees Chelsea plight

But before Arsenal can begin to dream of silverware again, they need to return to winning ways after failing to do so in their last four which includes draws against Liverpool and West Ham United - despite leading 2-0 in both - and being held at home by bottom-of-the-table Southampton.

Aside from Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny, who have both been ruled out for the remainder of the season through injury, and William Saliba who is unlikely to make his return to action following a back problem, Arteta should have a fully fit first-team squad to choose from for the visit of Chelsea.

Now, unless his hand is forced, the Spaniard has resisted making changes to his Arsenal team, especially for a Premier League fixture this season and of late. However, there are calls from many supporters for Leandro Trossard to be handed a recall having not started any of the last four.

It's perhaps a coincidence that the Gunners are without a victory since the Belgium international dropped out of the starting XI, but given goals haven't exactly been the problem recently effectively pours cold water over that way of thinking, although it can't be argued that he has often made an impact off the bench.

Against Southampton, he impressed after replacing the ineffective Fabio Vieira and almost scored an injury-time winner only for his effort to hit the crossbar before claiming an assist for Rob Holding's goal which turned out to be no more than a consolation strike at the Etihad Stadium.

Interestingly, Arteta has already agreed with the notion that his £21m January transfer window signing does deserve more starts, but also pointed out that the attacking options at his disposal right now make it difficult to fit everybody in whilst maintaining the right balance.

"He does every day. It's about how you play everybody together, with the right balance without losing that structure and flow of the team," the Arsenal manager told reporters in the post-Southampton press conference. "When he came on he for sure looked good again."

With that said, for Trossard to be handed a start against Chelsea it would require a change of heart from Arteta with regard to either his formation, personnel, or disrupting the balance in the team.

Since switching to a 4-3-3 formation last season, the Spanish tactician has rarely diverted away from it. Although he could revert back to a 4-2-3-1 system to accommodate Trossard - perhaps in the No. 10 role instead of captain Martin Odegaard - and keep his favoured front three in place.

In truth, the form Gabriel Martinelli is in at the moment effectively makes him undroppable. So, if the 4-3-3 remains in place then Trossard could come in for Gabriel Jesus or Bukayo Saka, but that does seem unlikely as the Brazilian has been amongst the goals since returning from injury and the latter is an automatic starter under Arteta.

The other option is to hand Trossard the role of a No. 8 - similar to where he played after coming off the bench against the Saints - instead of Granit Xhaka to join Odegaard and most likely Thomas Partey in the engine room. Although, this would be a massive risk in terms of getting the balance right.

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