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Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville thinks Arsenal winger Christos Tzolis will be dropped for the London derby against Chelsea this weekend.
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The Greek international was hauled off at halftime on Monday night versus Aston Villa after struggling to make an impact. His replacement, Eberechi Eze, ended up playing a key role in the winner, and Neville says the manager should bench his summer signing:
“It’s a big game, and Mikel Arteta might just have to tell Tzolis, ‘I’m not going to put you into this one, but watch this match.’ Eze has a bit more strength about him and certainly more experience in the Premier League.”
“I would be stunned if Eze doesn’t play next week because he played really well in the second half at Aston Villa.”
Tzolis needs to show consistency
The 24-year-old caught the eye with an outstanding performance against Manchester City in the Community Shield last month, and he followed that up with another superb display on the opening day of the Premier League season versus Coventry.
It was, therefore, very surprising that he was so poor at Villa Park, and that may suggest he has issues with consistency. Of course, Arsenal fans are no strangers to having erratic players on the left. Leandro Trossard nor Gabriel Martinelli could also blow hot and cold, but Tzolis will be keen to establish himself early on, and if he is dropped in favour of Eze, it would be a disappointment for him.
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Arsenal vs Chelsea team news
We have provided a more comprehensive injury update here, but both Cristhian Mosquera (muscular) and Declan Rice (knock) picked up issues against Villa, although Arteta has only provided an update on the former, stating that Mosquera came off on Monday as a precaution.
Chelsea, meanwhile, could be without Moises Caicedo and Marco Palestra, while there are doubts about Jordan Henderson’s fitness.