Leandro Trossard helped Belgium come back from two goals down to draw the game against Italy. The winger assisted the first goal and then scored the second. Already hailed for his decision-making and finishing in the opposition box, Trossard is picking up form at the right time for The Gunners. The uncertainty around Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz’s availability means that he will be very important in the upcoming fixtures. He has three goal involvements in four starts for Arsenal this season and has helped Arteta during this run without Martin Odegaard, with tough fixtures on the way and Bukayo Saka’s hamstring issue also emerging. The former Brighton man and Gabriel Martinelli will be expected to run the offense. Let’s look at how Mikel Arteta can get through this stretch of challenging fixtures without dropping points.
Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli will be key
The two attackers have to step up if Arteta doesn’t want to lose points. Considering that Havertz, Saka, and Odegaard won’t be available. I expect to see a front three of Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Martinelli on the wings and Leandro Trossard playing deep centrally. Sterling is an experienced member of the squad. He has won multiple league titles along with Mikel Arteta at Manchester City and has been a top player for most of his career. Unfortunately for Arsenal, he isn’t the same anymore. A washed-up Raheem Sterling on his day can be a nightmare to defend against but expecting him to turn the clock and do what he used to do five years ago is irrational.
Sterling will be solid, but the fans and the manager will look at Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli to get them over the line. Both of them have performed well recently. Martinelli is finally looking like his former self, getting into good positions and finishing chances consistently. He was firing on all cylinders when Arsenal came close to winning the first time. He has shown that he is still the best option in attack after the injured ones.
Leandro Trossard on the other hand was signed initially to add depth to the squad. He is a lot like Diogo Jota in my opinion, both of them can play anywhere in the front four and have a tendency to score goals. Trossard is a brilliant finisher, better than anyone in the Arsenal squad. Before signing for Arsenal, he was scoring for fun at Brighton. He is a Swiss army knife in attack and does more than he gets credit for. He has played everywhere in attack for Arteta, filling in for injured or suspended teammates. Sure, he doesn’t score the number of goals Jota does, but his creativity is far superior to the Portuguese.
Can Arteta keep winning without key players?
Martinelli and Trossard are the ones who need to go out there and win the games for Arsenal. Leandro Trossard is looking confident after a stellar performance in the Nations League. Gabriel Martinelli has scored two goals and assisted two in the last three league matches. These two are the most important players for Arsenal in open play. The biggest weapon at Arteta’s disposal will be scoring on set pieces.
The toughest games that Arsenal have played this year, have had important set-piece goals. They have new techniques to outsmart the opposition in every game. With many tall figures in the squad, getting a header in won’t be difficult. There have been occasions when it’s looked as if the set piece was made for center-back Gabriel Magalhaes to charge in with a thumping header while others overwhelm the goalkeeper and the player guarding the first post. They have scored headers in tough matches which went extremely close. Gabriel scored against Tottenham and City in back-to-back games and The Gunners scored a direct freekick against PSG which was confusing for the goalkeeper to deal with.
Arteta can find a way, but it will be difficult to execute ideas in the absence of star players. Fans would hope for Saka and Kai to get fit by the time they face Liverpool.
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