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Arsenal take on Crystal Palace in the League on Wednesday but how can Mikel Arteta use the match as a launchpad to nullifying the threat posed by PSG in the Champions League?
Mikel Arteta knows he cannot afford to look past Crystal Palace – and nor will he want to ahead of their Champions League semifinal clash against PSG.
Victory will postpone Liverpool’s title celebrations but, more than anything, it gives Arteta one final chance to solve to his toughest selection dilemmas ahead of the biggest night in his managerial career and of Arsenal’s recent history.
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Few sides are as devastating on the counter-attack as PSG according to the Daily Mail. The French side needed just four passes in their second leg against Aston Villa to go from one penalty area to the other for rampaging full-back Nuno Mendes to put the visitors 2-0 up on the night.
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Palace may not carry the same glamour, nor set up in the same system, but there are still similarities between the two for Arteta to use as a handy dress run for next week. Arteta must find a way to nullify two teams that use width and runners from deep to get five players into the attacking third.
For Palace, that comes from the wing-backs Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell while Eberechi Eze and Ismaili Sarr burst through the middle. For PSG, that width comes through wingers Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue, with full-back Achraf Hakimi offering even bombing down the right.
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Their runners into the channels come from midfield or, as for their crucial third goal in the first leg, from the marauding Mendes. Arsenal are good at defending against teams who attack so freely and they haven’t lost to a traditional ‘Big Six’ team in the league for nearly two years.
So much of this comes from one key area in which Arteta now needs to find a solution.
Merino into midfield again?
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Declan Rice was furious when Thomas Partey’s late yellow against Real Madrid ruled him out of the first leg through suspension. Without him, Arsenal lose their key midfield disruptor.Partey was won more duels and more interceptions than any other Arsenal player in the league this season while Rice and William Saliba have recovered possession more often.
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Without him in front of the Arsenal back line, Arteta needs to find another way to suffocate PSG’s attack but while not also stifling his own. Arteta gave it a whirl at Ipswich by moving Rice to the base of the midfield, something he rarely does because Rice is at his best when carrying the ball forward.
Arteta gave it a whirl at Ipswich by moving Rice to the base of the midfield, something he rarely does because Rice is at his best when carrying the ball forward.
Merino has been a revelation playing as a false nine in the absence of Kai Havertz, scoring six and setting up another four, including both of Arsenal’s goals in their famous night in the Bernabeu.
But Merino, a box-to-box midfielder when not moonlighting as a striker, is a duel monster. He wins more per game than any other Arsenal player, even Partey. That will be vital against PSG.
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