After another successful weekend of Premier League action, Arsenal will have shifted their focus to the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta’s side have been faultless in the competition so far this season, beating Athletic Bilbao, Olympiacos and Atlético Madrid by an aggregate score of 8-0.
The North Londoners will be faced with a fresh challenge on Tuesday night, though, as they take on the fiery Slavia Prague away from home, likely without Viktor Gyokeres.
However, while the Swedish international will be a miss, Arteta could replace him with a youngster who has won some flattering comparisons to Liverpool’s star strikers.
Gyokeres’ start to life at Arsenal
To say that there was a lot of pressure on Gyokeres to hit the ground running at Arsenal would be an understatement.
Yes, he didn’t cost anywhere near as much as some other strikers, but he was incredibly prolific for Sporting CP, and the narrative around the Gunners last year was that they were a forward short of winning the Premier League.
So there was a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and while he has had some underwhelming performances and looked a little clunky here and there, it would be fair to say he’s had a reasonable start to life in North London.
For example, while he has not been as lethal as some hoped he would, the Stockholm-born ace has now got six goals to his name, two of which came against a top team in Atlético last time out in the Champions League.
Moreover, against Burnley on Saturday afternoon, the 27-year-old put in what many have described as his best performance in an Arsenal shirt.
Not only did he open the scoring in the 14th minute, but he also helped create the second goal and could have had two assists if Bukayo Saka had his shooting boots on.
Unfortunately, he did come off at halftime, with Arteta later claiming he had a muscular problem.
Since then, Arsenal writer Charles Watts has confirmed that he did not participate in the last training session, and therefore, it appears he won’t be available to play against Slavia.
While this is far from ideal, Arteta does have a solution available to him, and no, it’s not Mikel Merino.
The Arsenal player Arteta should start instead of Gyokeres
With Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus still out injured, Merino feels like the obvious solution to Gyokeres’ absence.
However, Arteta turned to the Spaniard on Saturday, and the team suddenly became a lot less threatening and fluid.
Therefore, he should be brave and hand yet another start to one of Hale End’s most exciting stars: Andre Harriman-Annous.
It would be a bold move, but the 17-year-old looked lively against Brighton & Hove Albion in the League Cup, and while he didn’t score a goal against the Seagulls, Saka’s goal came from his saved effort.
Moreover, while Merino has more experience, the youngster is far more mobile, and as one analyst points out, “has shades of Isak and Ekitiké” in his game, particularly in the way he can float out wide and come back in.
Another reason he should be given this chance is that he has already proven he can score at the junior level.
For example, in 35 appearances across the u18s and U21s last year, the 17-year-old racked up an impressive tally of 15 goals and three assists.
Finally, while it would perhaps be foolish of Arteta to start the Hale Ender in the league due to the level of competition, handing him this opportunity in a relatively low-stakes European game against weaker opposition could be the perfect chance to get him more experience.
It would also stop him from risking the only other senior back-up he currently has for Gyokeres.
Ultimately, starting Harriman-Annous would be a gamble, but based on his performances in the academy and last week, it’s one Arteta should take in light of Gyokeres’ injury.
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