Arsenal picked up a 2-0 win over Athletic Club in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The Gunners had a testing challenge against the Spanish outfit, but prevailed with a victory.
Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard made the difference off the bench with two goal contributions apiece.
Martinelli opened the scoring with a sublime run behind the defence before beating goalkeeper Unai Simon. He netted just 36 seconds after coming on as a substitute.
Trossard provided the assist. It was the vice versa for the second goal. Trossard scored with the help of a deflection.
Arsenal now need to turn their attention to Sunday’s Premier League clash against Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.
Ahead of the game, manager Mikel Arteta needs to make a big attacking change, in our opinion.
Martinelli had a fantastic cameo against Athletic. He provided a goal and an assist and was named the man of the match.
The Brazilian also completed 100 percent of his passes and dribbles, with 100 percent duels won.
Arteta likes to capitalise on player momentum, and it makes sense to start Martinelli on the left wing against the Cityzens.
Martinelli has a good recent record against the Mancunian outfit. He has scored or assisted in three of the last four meetings.
If Martinelli were to start, we would prefer to see Eberechi Eze shifting to a central attacking midfield role rather than being benched.
Arteta opted for a midfield three of Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino against Liverpool before the international break.
In Martin Odegaard’s absence from the starting XI, the Gunners lacked the creativity from the centre of the park against the Reds.
If Odegaard is unfit to start on Sunday, we would prefer Eze to partner Zubimendi and one of Merino or Rice in the midfield.
Eze is primarily an attacking midfielder. He made 25 goal contributions from the role for Palace during the previous campaign.
This included a couple of goals against Pep Guardiola’s side, including the FA Cup winner in May.
The Gunners need someone who can control the tempo and create chances from the no.10 role if Odegaard is unfit to make the XI.
Eze would be a perfect fit. The £48 million-rated star completed two dribbles and created 1.7 chances per game as a playmaker last term.
Starting Martinelli on the left wing and having Eze in a central attacking position could be key to outplaying the Cityzens on Sunday.
_Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com_
