Riccardo Calafiori very impressed with Arsenal star’s performance against Forest | OneFootball

Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori has praised midfielder Mikel Merino following the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

The Gunners returned to winning ways with a resounding performance against Forest. Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri were the goalscorers.

Merino got a surprise start alongside Jorginho in central midfield, and he produced a good showing.

The 28-year-old had an 85 percent passing accuracy. Merino won six duels and made six recoveries. He also won two tackles with as many interceptions.

Teammate Riccardo Calafiori praised Merino on social media platform Instagram, saying Merino showed ‘lots of quality’.

Merino has had a tough introduction to English football. His debut was delayed by four weeks after he suffered a minor shoulder fracture in training in late August.

He has since been a regular part of the matchday squad but has taken time to adapt to the pace of the league. Merino now seems to be playing with confidence.

It will be interesting to see whether the £42 million-rated star will keep his place when the Gunners take on Sporting CP in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Declan Rice and Partey could be recalled into the starting XI. The former was an unused substitute yesterday. He has been nursing a broken toe.

The Gunners are two points behind the top eight in the league phase of the competition and need to beat Sporting to avoid losing more ground.

It won’t be an easy task as Sporting are scoring for fun and recently dominated Manchester City.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com.