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Arsenal fans on X (formerly Twitter) are furious with manager Mikel Arteta after he named the starting XI for the Premier League clash at Liverpool. They believe that the midfield has no creativity and Mikel Merino should have come off the bench.
Arteta stuck with his back line of Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel, and Riccardo Calafiori starting in front of goalkeeper David Raya. Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice keep their place in the midfield, with Merino coming in to replace Martin Odegaard, who is on the bench despite the injury scare.
Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli are on the wings today, with Viktor Gyokeres leading the attack. The fans have received the starting XI well, but the addition of Merino has been the only talking point, as they believe it lacks creativity in the midfield.
Many believe that the Spaniard should have been a super sub in the game, and wrote:
Merino should have been like a super sub to seal the game or just lock horns So no creativity we are going to rely on set piece till odegaard or eze comes on
wtf is wrong with Arteta ffs Merino as how nah? 🤦🏽♂️
3 dms 😭😭arteta o
3 central defensive midfielders? Are you sure. Mikel?
Why is merino playing ???
Merino , Rice and Zubi ? Bruh we’re about to play like Mou Chelsea Our midfield will be nonexistent
Arteta spoke about the game in his press conference and admitted that they were ready to go all out for the win. He said:
"A very important one and we want to continue building the momentum that we are in right now. Going to those grounds, those stadiums, against this kind of opposition is what we want and coming away from those big games, winning in a really convincing way. That's the objective."
Arsenal and Liverpool drew both their matches last season 2-2, as the Reds went on to win the Premier League title by 10 points. The Gunners finished second for the third successive season,
Mikel Arteta comments on Arsenal facing Liverpool early in the season
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was questioned whether he would have preferred facing Liverpool later in the season, and the Spaniard said that the timing was not important. He said that the Reds are champions because of their consistency last season and said:
"It is what it is, we have to play them. They are the champions, they are champions for a reason, because they deserve to be champions. They were the better team last year, the most consistent one, the one that found ways to win in many different ways and we want to be that team this year. We need to go to Anfield with that spirit and that conviction."
When asked what needs to change for them to get the win at Anfield, he said:
"Be better than we've been in those games, more efficient and do what we've done with many other stats that we had, for even longer. Just go there and be convinced that we can go to Anfield and win."
Arsenal have not won a Premier League match at Anfield since 2012, when Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski sealed a 2-0 win.
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Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist who has been with the company for around 10 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins.
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If given a chance to change a football rule, Sripad wants VAR to be fully automated and offside rules to be less stringent. When not working, he likes to watch past Formula 1 races and play FIFA.
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