Reliable journalist Charles Watts reveals who he thinks will replace Declan Rice in the Arsenal midfield for the North London Derby.
Mikel Arteta has a huge decision to make after the international break. Arsenal take on Tottenham in the North London Derby next weekend where they’ll be without one of their main men in the form of Declan Rice.
The Arsenal midfielder controversially got shown a red card for kicking the ball away as Brighton tried to take a quick free-kick last weekend, meaning he is currently facing a one game suspension.
The Gunners will have to beat their North London rivals without their record signing. So who will start in the midfield, in replace of Declan Rice, next Sunday?
Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard have started all three games in the Premier League this season and that’s expected to continue in the North London Derby up next. However Mikel Arteta doesn’t have many options to choose from when deciding who will make up the midfield trio against Spurs.
There’s no denying Declan Rice will be a huge miss. He’s one of the main leaders and one of the most influential players Arsenal currently have. But Charles Watts seems to think he knows who will start in the midfield at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next weekend.
New signing Mikel Merino has been ruled out for six to eight weeks after injuring his shoulder during his first Arsenal training session last week. This leave Jorginho, Kai Havertz or maybe Ethan Nwaneri as the main options to replace Declan Rice.
Interestingly Charles Watts thinks Mikel Arteta could return to the line-up he played at the beginning of last season with Kai Havertz dropping back into midfield.
Charles Watts: “It’s just a huge, huge game and I think the most likely option will be Havertz. I mean you can play Trossard up front and you can play Martinelli on the left and Saka on the right.
“As much as I would prefer Havertz to stay as a central striker, I look around at the squad that Arsenal have with Merino injured and I just don’t really see what other option there is for Arteta.”
Kai Havertz has been in the best form of his career to date while playing as the main striker in this current Arsenal team. Dropping him back into the midfield would be a risk, but the only other option is to start Jorginho who is yet to play a single minute all season.
With Gabriel Jesus also currently injured, Charles Watts suggests starting Leandro Trossard up top, with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli either side.
Another option Mikel Arteta could go with is choosing to hand a start to new signing Raheem Sterling. The 29-year-old mainly plays off the left, but has also started games as the main striker in the past.
