Arteta must axe 5/10 Arsenal flop after Chelsea display

If anything typified Arsenal‘s calendar year to date it would be their 1-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.

A win in the London derby against the Blues should usually be enough to spark bedlam and a roaring cacophony of sound around the Emirates Stadium.

Yet, this game felt different. Before kick-off, the Gunners were 15 points behind Liverpool and knew the title was out of reach. Still, a win is a win and it’s a vital win at that considering they have recently limped to a 1-0 defeat against West Ham, a goalless draw with Nottingham Forest and a 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

While Mikel Arteta‘s men enjoyed a lot of the ball against Enzo Maresca’s side, they were lacking a killer instinct that has eluded them for a lot of 2025. They are missing Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka. It’s hardly a surprise they’ve been so toothless.

So, let us rejoice in Mikel Merinothe makeshift centre-forward who’s been saving Arsenal’s bacon.

Mikel Merino’s performance in numbers against Chelsea

When Merino arrived at Arsenal last summer, moving from Real Sociedad, little did he think he’d be playing as a striker in the latter stages of the season. Nor did Arteta, in all fairness.

However, needs must as far as the Gunners are concerned.

Merino has done his job well and must be cut some slack. Before that two-goal cameo against Leicester in February, he hadn’t ever played as a centre-forward.

Since being given the reins as the focal point of the side, he has scored four goals in seven games. It’s a pretty decent record but he’s never going to carry Arsenal to trophies playing in that role.

Still, he did an admirable job against Chelsea, leading the press, closing down the defenders and scoring the all-important goal.

Merino has scored a number of different strikes this term, scoring two back post efforts against Leicester and side-footing the ball home from close range against PSV.

This goal, however, was from the near post and it marked Arsenal’s first goal from a corner in what felt like forever. Skipper Martin Odegaard swung the ball in from the right and the Spaniard darted into a good position before flicking the ball past Robert Sanchez.

Merino could have made it two but this time was denied by Sanchez who had a rather topsy-turvy afternoon between the sticks.

The Spain international met the ball at the back post this time and hammered a volley towards the goal that nearly crossed the line but was kept out excellently.

While Merino deserves praise for his performance, one of his attacking colleagues certainly doesn’t.

Arsenal’s biggest underperformer against Chelsea

While this was a pretty laboured 1-0 win for Arteta and his players, there were not many players who actually contributed poorly at the Emirates.

Sadly for Leandro Trossardhis contribution did not amount to much. In fact, it hasn’t amounted to much at all really in recent months.

The Belgian did score in that 7-1 rout in Eindhoven but has really struggled to make a positive impact in the absence of Saka.

Trossard began that aforementioned clash at Leicester as the 9 but has since been moved to the left to accommodate Merino and while his performance on Sunday wasn’t awful, it lacked flair and end product.

Handed a 5/10 match rating by the Express’ Simon Collingshe noted that it was ‘one of those days for the Belgian. Got into some good positions, but could not make the most of the chances. Frustrating.’

A look at the stats paints that frustrating picture, with the former Brighton star failing to register a key pass, a shot on target, complete a dribble or do anything of note defensively. He also lost the ball every five touches with it perhaps a surprise that Trossard lasted the full 90 minutes.

As a result, once the international break is said and done, Arteta must look at other options. Saka is nearing a return but it will still be too soon for any regular involvement for their star man so it surely has to be a front three of Gabriel Martinelli, Ethan Nwaneri and Merino.