Jeremie Aliadiere has told Mikel Arteta to make the ‘tough’ decision to drop Noni Madueke for Saturday’s Premier League clash at Aston Villa.
Madueke was handed a start on the right wing in Arsenal’s 2-0 victory over Brentford on Wednesday night, playing for a total of 61 minutes.
The 23-year-old was involved in Mikel Merino’s goal with a clever backheel into the path of Ben White, who provided the assist for the Spaniard.
Arteta replaced Madueke with Bukayo Saka just after the hour mark and the second-half substitute scored in the 91st minute after coming on.
Ahead of the Gunners’ trip to Villa Park this weekend, former Arsenal star Aliadiere has told Metro that Madueke should drop to the bench so Saka can start the match.
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‘That’s a tough one,’ Aliadiere said about Madueke or Saka starting on the right wing against Unai Emery’s side.
‘I personally would start Saka. As much as Madueke has done really well, he’s been out for a while (with a knee injury) so you don’t want to put too much on him straight away.
‘Arteta has been good this season at rotation and managing the squad. I know there’s been a few injuries so he’d had to as well. I just think putting Saka back in will be the best choice for this game.
‘They (Madueke and Saka) are quite similar. They’re both left-footed and like to come in on their left foot from the right-hand side.
‘I do feel in certain games, Arteta might go with both of them and go with Madueke on the left. The luxury this season is having great players off the bench or when there’s injuries, one can step in.
‘We’ve missed that at Arsenal the last few years. A few years ago, we’d have never seen Saka on the bench being rested. Now, it’s not a shock to see Saka on the bench and Madueke playing because of how well he’s been doing.’
‘It would be quite harsh to drop Mikel Merino’
Quizzed if Viktor Gyokeres or Merino should start up top for Arsenal against Villa, Aliadiere added: ‘Gyokeres offers something completely different to Merino.
‘When you’ve got Merino scoring in pretty much every game at the moment, and such important goals every time, I think it would be quite harsh to put him on the bench.
‘But obviously Arteta will speak to his players and see how they feel. He needs to see how Gyokeres feels as well after his recent (muscle) injury. There’s so many games coming up.’
‘Ollie Watkins has a point to prove vs Arsenal’
Asked if Villa striker Ollie Watkins has a point to prove against Arsenal, having previously been strongly linked with a move to north London, Aliadiere continued: ‘Yes, 100 per cent. When you’ve been linked with a move to a big club and you don’t end up getting it, of course.
‘For you to make it happen you’ve got to score goals, important goals against the top teams and make an impact. Saying that, Villa are doing really well, it’s not like they are fighting relegation. Listen, before we got Gyokeres, I would have been happy with Watkins. I like his style and I love the way he plays. His work rate and what he brings to a team is great.’
Jeremie Aliadiere speaking with Metro via expert commentary by Bart Crebolder from Online Casino Group.
