Do Arsenal go into Sunday’s Premier League blockbuster against Manchester City as favourites?
Between November 2017 and April 2023, the Gunners faced the Citizens 16 times, losing 15 of them, their sole victory coming in an FA Cup semi-final behind-closed-doors, en route to lifting the trophy in 2020.
Now though, Mikel Arteta is unbeaten in five meetings with Pep Guardiola, seeking a third successive home win over Man City, something Arsenal last achieved in 2009, following February’s 5-1 humbling of Erling Braut Håland and friends.
If the Gunners are to prevail again on Sunday, thereby asserting themselves as the primary challengers to champions Liverpool, Arteta must be bold and start his young talent “better than Phil Foden”.
Mikel Merino's role in the Arsenal team
Few Arsenal players in recent times have been quite so difficult to figure out as Mikel Merino.
The media-driven narrative following Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at Anfield last month, in which Merino started alongside Martín Zubimendi and Declan Rice, was that Arteta had started three defensive midfielders against Liverpool.
Well, this idea was proven to be total nonsense during the subsequent week, as Merino scored four goals in two games for Spain, heading home a Lamine Yamal corner against Bulgaria in Sofia, before bagging a hat-trick as the European champions demolished Türkiye 6-0 in Konya.
As a result, Merino started the win over Nottingham Forest, Rice given a rest, with Arteta stating that this was because his compatriot was in “a really high emotional state and I want to use that when a player is in that moment”.
He was excellent in the left-eight position, which is probably his best role in this team, before deputising for the injured Martin Ødegaard against Athletic Club Bilbao on Tuesday, looking less comfortable on the opposite side, it has to be said.
Arguably, the 29-year-old’s best performances for Arsenal have come as an emergency striker, starting pretty much every game there from Valentine’s Day onwards last season, scoring seven goals, notably netting against Real Madrid, Liverpool, Chelsea and others.
This weekend, if Merino’s name is on the team sheet, it’ll be as a right-sided attacking midfielder once again, given that is continuing to Ødegaard nurse his shoulder injury, but Arteta clearly has an option more suited for this role.
The Arsenal youngster who's been better than Phil Foden
On both Merseyside last month and in the Basque Country in mid-week, the travelling Arsenal supporters were pretty much universally disappointed not to see the name Ethan Nwaneri in the starting line-up.
In the summer, despite some speculation that Chelsea were interested, the teenager signed a new five-year contract with the club, stating “signing this contract means everything to me… I’m so excited for what I can bring… I want to help us win as much as possible”.
This is an obvious show of faith from the club, so it is now time for Arteta to prove he trusts him too.
Last season, Nwaneri scored nine goals across all competitions, eight of which came before his 18th birthday in March, a record only Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney can better in the Premier League-era.
However, this season, he is yet to start a match, an unused substitute in all three away games, albeit he’s seen a significant amount of playing time against both Leeds and Nottingham Forest, introduced during the first half of both due to injuries suffered by Ødegaard.
Even in matches they are winning and scoring goals, Arteta’s team are struggling to create a high volume of open-play changes, something Nwaneri could surely help to address, so let’s compare him to the current occupant of that midfield position Merino.
Appearances
37
44
Minutes
1,378
2,635
Goals
9
9
Assists
2
5
Goals – xG
+4.1
+2
Shots on target %
46.5%
36.7%
Progressive carries
56
16
Take-ons completed
40
9
Take-on success %
68%
47%
Shot-creating actions per 90
2.65
2.36
Chances created per 90
1.3
0.8
Touches per 90
58.2
47.8
Average Sofascore rating
7.11
7.10
As the table documents, despite playing around half as many minutes, Nwaneri scored as many goals as Merino last season, while all of the Englishman’s underlying statistics are more impressive.
The 18-year-old registered more than three times as many progressive carries, also accumulating more chances created, as well as around ten more touches per game, underlining their stylistic differences.
One of the highlights of Nwaneri’s breakout campaign came during the aforementioned mauling of Manchester City in February, scoring the stunner to complete the 5-1 rout.
Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout labelled Nwaneri an “incredible talent”, while former Watford striker Troy Deeney compared him to Jack Wilshere, adding that “he’s been better than Phil Foden”, a player he’ll come directly up against on Sunday.
So, if Arteta is to be bold and take the game to a vulnerable Man City side, one that has already been beaten by Spurs and Brighton this season, Nwaneri has to be unleashed come Sunday afternoon.