Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta sticking Mikel Merino up front after his double against Leicester City is not as simple as it sounds, Gunners expert Charles Watts has stressed.
The former Real Sociedad man conjured up a critical late brace in that 2-0 Premier League win over the Foxes, where Arsenal were without no fewer than four attackers due to injury in Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli.
As expected, Arteta started Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri from the off at the King Power, but the former was highly ineffective before being brought off for Merino, who produced a fine header for Arsenal's first before a first-time finish at the back post.
The Spain international has therefore unsurprisingly been tipped to start as Arsenal's number nine against West Ham United this weekend, and while Watts is ever so slightly leaning towards bringing Merino into the first XI, he has questioned whether such a move would be sustainable for the full 90 minutes.
"I've been thinking about this a lot since Saturday," Watts told Sports Mole. "It's a really interesting situation. It's a big decision Mikel Arteta is going to be facing ahead of the weekend. I'm sure he's going to be thinking long and hard.
"It sounds obvious, doesn't it? He comes on, scores two goals, he's got to start the next game. Especially given the context behind Raheem Sterling's performance as well. But I don't know how sustainable it is.
Watts "veering towards" Merino over Sterling
"It was amazing what he did, but could he do that from the start? I'm not sure. If you start Merino on Saturday and it doesn't work, you've got no real way of changing it off the bench. But if you leave Merino on the bench, play Sterling, and you need to change things in the second half, there is a more of a game changing option of Merino.
"But if you take him off in the second half, and it hasn't worked, and you put Sterling on, I don't see that as a game changing sub. I've changed my mind on this a lot. But at the moment, I'm veering towards Merino starting, just because Sterling was really, really off it.
"It's tough when you're one of three attackers to play your way out of the starting lineup. But it feels like he did with that performance. He really struggled. It was a tough watch. I don't know if you can start him again at the weekend. So I think probably Merino will start. But I wouldn't be shocked if Mikel keeps it as it was."
Prior to Merino's heroic interventions, Arsenal had endured 80 minutes of frustration against Leicester on their first game back since returning from Dubai, where Havertz sustained the season-ending hamstring injury that he has now undergone surgery on.
Merino's double allowed Arsenal to close the gap to leaders Liverpool to four points at the top of the table, although the Reds then re-established a seven-point advantage by overcoming Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 a day later.
Nevertheless, the Gunners have now prevailed in each of their last three Premier League games and are unbeaten in their last 15 in the top flight, and Watts can see Arteta and co looking back on the Leicester win as a pivotal moment if they do manage to usurp Liverpool.
Asked if Saturday's win was one of Arsenal's biggest of the season so far, Watts responded: "It's got to be up there just for what it meant. If you're dropping points at Leicester, you're not taking advantage of Liverpool dropping points against Everton. It was a really big win. You could see that at the end by the celebrations as well.
'Arsenal could look back on Leicester win as key moment'
© Imago
"The players knew it, they had to come through quite a bit of adversity. They didn't play well at all in the first half, did improve in the second. I still think it's very unlikely, don't get me wrong, but if you do go on and win the title, these are the wins you look back on thinking that was a really key, key moment. Not playing well, heading towards a draw, and then you find a way to win.
"And Arsenal did that on Saturday. They had to turn to the bench, but the bench worked and you could see what it meant to the players and to the coaching staff."
While Liverpool did get the job done against Wolves on Sunday, Arne Slot's side were far from convincing in the second half, where rumoured Arsenal target Matheus Cunha gave the Reds a huge scare with a terrific curling effort.
The league leaders had only had three full days to recover from their Merseyside derby collapse at Everton, which may very well have been playing on their minds at the weekend, and things do not get any easier for the Reds this week.
Liverpool can go 10 points clear by beating Aston Villa on Wednesday, but the Lions have not lost a Premier League home game since Arsenal conquered them in August, and Slot's men must then travel to revitalised champions Manchester City this weekend.
However, if the Reds emerge victorious from both of their next two Premier League games, Watts believes that they will already have "one a half hands" on the top-flight trophy.
"They [Arsenal] have to be looking at this week as potentially a pivotal week if they are going to have an opportunity to chase Liverpool down," he concluded. "They would have probably been eyeing this week as a chance to potentially do it because of those two tricky away games that Liverpool have got back to back.
'Liverpool can put one-and-a-half hands on the trophy'
© Imago
"They weren't convincing against Wolves. The second half was difficult for them. But again, like Arsenal at Leicester, they got through. It doesn't matter if you win. We're certainly getting to that stage of the season now where performances don't really matter if you're going for the title.
"You just want the three points, move on, put that game to bed, don't really think about it again and just look ahead to the next one. Liverpool got the job done. Although it was unconvincing, there were nerves probably for the first time this season.
"You probably saw a little bit of the nerves in the players and the fans around Anfield. That's only going to heat up, and Arsenal will hope that we will start to see more of that. But this is a massive week in terms of the title race.
"If Liverpool can come through these two games, if they can win at Villa Park and at the Etihad, then I can't see anyone other than Liverpool winning this title, because not only do Arsenal then need them to slip up in games you probably wouldn't expect them to slip up in, you need Arsenal to basically take every single point as well.
"Given the situation Arsenal are in and the lack of attackers they've got, that feels unrealistic to me. Liverpool have already got control, but they've got a chance to put one and a half hands on the trophy this week or the door is going to open for Arsenal to potentially take advantage."
Arsenal still have to go to Anfield in the third-last gameweek of the Premier League season, but there is a chance that the title race could be a foregone conclusion before the top two reunite in May.
Ben Knapton
