Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta opted to experiment with Fabio Vieira's role during the closing stages of the 2-2 draw against Sporting CP in midweek and it could be a trick that's repeated for Sunday's London derby vs Fulham.
The Spaniard had initially remained tight-lipped with regard to who travelled to Lisbon for the Europa League round of 16 first-leg tie, but all was revealed when team news was confirmed around about an hour before kick-off with the Gunners without three senior forwards.
Groin and ankle injuries respectively sidelined Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah, whilst football.london understands the decision was made for Gabriel Jesus to remain in England despite the striker taking part in a full training session at London Colney before the squad flew out to Portugal.
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As a result, it meant Gabriel Martinelli - who usually operates from the left-wing - was tasked with leading the line for Arsenal against Sporting CP, and if not for a superb tackle from Jeremiah St. Juste then the Brazil international will have surely been celebrating a goal-of-the-season contender.
Now, turning the attention to Sunday's trip to Craven Cottage and Arteta has somewhat of a team selection dilemma to solve especially in attack as it would appear that neither Trossard, Nketiah or Jesus will be in a position to start should any return to the matchday squad.
Therefore, the Spaniard could keep faith in Martinelli as the centre-forward. However, this option would pose the question of who will complete the Gunners' attacking trio as Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe are the two obvious contenders on the left with Bukayo Saka almost certain to start in his customary role on the right.
However, Arteta may have foreshadowed his plan for Sunday with an interesting tactical tweak during the final 20 minutes against Sporting CP. After Nelson was replaced by Smith Rowe, the latter took up a central midfield role with Martinelli moving out to his usual position instead.
This left Vieira operating as a false nine and whilst it remains to be seen if the experiment was used with a view to the Fulham game, it's interesting to note that at the beginning of the season, the Arsenal manager listed the central striker role as one of four positions that the £34million signing from Portugal can play.
"I think that’s something that the player is going to tell us," Arteta told football.london. "We have tried him in training in different positions. He has played off the left, off the right, he has played as a false nine, attacking midfielder. He doesn’t want to be locked into one position as well because he’s so used to it. That’s a really positive thing for us."
So could it be that Vieira replaces Martinelli as Arsenal's focal point in attack against Fulham with the Brazilian moving back to the left-hand side but looking to exploit the space that the Portugal Under-21 international will naturally create through his movement?
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