Mikel Arteta told to drop Arsenal ‘star boy’ vs Everton in ‘brave decision’ for two reasons | OneFootball

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has been encouraged to drop his “star boy” for this weekend’s Premier League match vs Everton.

The Gunners were far from their scintillating best as they earned a valuable 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Wednesday night.

Summer signing Noni Madueke made a big impact from the bench in the final half an hour, earning his side a penalty in the closing stages of the game. Kai Havertz converted from the spot, with this goal cancelling out Robert Andrich’s opener shortly after half-time.

Madueke has surpassed expectations following his summer move from Chelsea to Arsenal, though his game time has been limited due to the presence of Bukayo Saka.

However, Madueke has arguably outshone Saka in recent weeks and former Premier League striker Charlie Austin thinks he deserves to start because he has impressed, while Saka has been out of form.

“It’s a tough one,” Austin responded on Sky Sports when asked whether Madueke should start ahead of Saka.

“I think when he’s come on, the performances he’s put in have warranted starting.

“The issue that he has, unfortunately, is that Arsenal’s star boy plays in the same position as him, so it’s going to take the manager to make a brave decision to make that change.”

He added: “If I’m Noni Madueke, I’m asking the question: ‘What more can I do?’ because when he came on last night he changed the game…

“He got the ball, he ran at defenders, made things happen. In the 58, 59 minutes that Saka was on the pitch, he didn’t.”

Arsenal legend Martin Keown has also praised Madueke after he “transformed” the match against Leverkusen.

“They were certainly very sloppy at the start of the second-half so they will look at that the decisive management of Arteta, taking Saka off who was not having one of his best nights,” Keown told TNT Sports.

“There were reasons for that, it wasn’t just his fault, the structure on that right hand side just wasn’t right.

“Madueke with that driving run getting the penalty, he was so dynamic when he came on and I think he transformed Arsenal on that right hand side.”

Despite this, Keown does not think it is time for Madueke to start ahead of Saka.

“No. There are other reasons why it didn’t work over on that right hand side,” Keown added.

“You think about what they have had over the years with Odegaard, he would be on there to complement that three.

“You might have Ben White making runs down the outside and Timber is coming inside and they were doubling up on him. It wasn’t easy but Madueke found a way to get through.”