Former Liverpool star Danny Murphy names the one Arsenal defender who can replace Ben White in the starting eleven for the upcoming UEFA Champions League final clash against Paris Saint-Germain.
A season-ending injury to Arsenal defender Ben White will cause headaches for Mikel Arteta ahead of 3 of the most important games of his managerial career as the manager of the Gunners.
White was substituted out in the first-half of their win over West Ham. Recent reports reveal that the defender has suffered ligament damage and will not be able to take part in any of Arsenal's remaining games. The Gunners are short of numbers at right back due to the injury to first-choice star Jurrien Timber.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Murphy spoke about White's injury, he said (via Metro):
"It’s a shame for Ben White; he seems to be in Thomas Tuchel’s good books and had just started to get his form back a little bit, playing regularly because of Timber’s injury. He’s a decent player."
He then went on to name Cristian Mosquera as the player who can deputize instead of White:
"Mosquera is a defender, he’s a centre-half, and he’s quick. He can play right-back, he can sit in position, and just pick him up and have a one-vs-one battle. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s not ideal."
He insisted that any player who was going to come up against Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is set to have a tough time, as he labelled the Georgian star as the best winger in the world. He then showered praise on the PSG attack. He said:
"He(Kvaratskhelia) can play both sides as well; he can play on the right, that’s the flexibility of PSG. Sometimes you’ll see him on the right, on the left… Ousmane Dembele will go on the left or the right, and Desire Doue will go on the left or the right.
‘It’s a big ask for Arsenal, they’re going to have to be pretty perfect to beat them on the night."
Danny Murphy explains why he believes Arsenal will win the UCL and PL this season
In the same segment, despite praising PSG, Murphy claimed Arsenal would go on to win the double this season. He said:
"For some reason, I don’t know why, not on logic really, I think they’ll win both (PL and UCL).
"They’ll give PSG that much respect and deflate them and nullify them and then probably go and win it on a set-play or something because finals are nervy."