FPL notes: Merino up front, £4.5m Nwaneri superb + Sterling poor

Arsenal cut Liverpool’s lead – probably temporarily – to four points with a win over Leicester City on Saturday.

The Gunners made heavy work of it, though, not breaking their hosts’ resistance till the 81st minute.

Picking the bones out of the action at the King Power Stadium, it’s our next Scout Notes article.

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MERINO – THE NEW HAVERTZ?

It was almost exactly a year ago that Mikel Arteta, not blessed with striking options, decided to try something a bit different and field Kai Havertz (£7.8m) up front. The German responded with a blistering run of form in the final third of 2023/24, scoring nine goals in his final 14 league appearances.

Now, Havertz is out for the season. Gabriel Jesus (£6.5m) is too. So, how does Arteta fill the chasm up top?

Most of us predicted how the Arsenal boss would line up at Leicester. Arteta used Leandro Trossard (£6.8m) through the middle, with Ethan Nwaneri (£4.5m) and Raheem Sterling (£6.7m) on either side.

It was not a tactic that was working well. Almost an hour in, Arsenal had only mustered four shots against a side that conceded in each of their last 17 league fixtures.

Arteta had seen enough midway through the second half, withdrawing the poor Sterling, moving Trossard to the left and introducing Mikel Merino (£6.0m) up top.

Much more of a presence than Trossard, Merino very nearly converted a teasing Jurrien Timber (£5.6m) cross within a minute of his introduction.

Leicester didn’t heed the warning. First nodding in a Nwaneri cross, Merino then got onto the end of a low Trossard delivery to seal his brace and all three points for the Gunners.

Are we going to see more of Merino as a striker, then? The player himself doesn’t think so…

“I don’t know, I don’t think so to be honest. I’ve only scored two more braces in my career and it is the first time I have scored a brace coming off the bench as a striker.

“[Mikel Arteta] told me that I was going to come in as a striker this morning. We were talking about it a little bit with one of the assistants. Honestly, it was a surprise because it is the first time in my career that I’ve played that position.

“He told me to make sure I go with my strengths. Luckily I could help the team with two goals today.” – Mikel Merino on whether we are going to see him more up top

Arteta, however, has more faith in the Spaniard:

“He’s got a goal threat because he can smell danger, he can anticipate the action, he’s got really good timing to arrive into certain areas and then obviously he has the capacity to execute with that part of his body. He needed the delivery, he certainly had that as well, and he put it into the back of the net.” – Mikel Arteta on Mikel Merino

It’ll be interesting to see what happens against West Ham United in Gameweek 26. Arteta acknowledged that the game-state against Leicester suited Merino, and it might be a different match altogether next weekend:

“I think the game started to suit him more because they were starting to defend much deeper and we had more momentum, more sequences, more set-pieces as well in that period and we believed that he could impact the game. We were lucky that he did it.” – Mikel Arteta on Mikel Merino

But the alternative option is fielding Sterling again. The winger’s substitution was cheered by his own supporters after the latest in a long line of underwhelming post-City displays.

NWANERI IMPRESSES AGAIN

While we wait to see whether Arteta uses Merino up front from kick-off, we can be confident of a Nwaneri start in Gameweek 26 and beyond.

The teenager was electric down the right flank, the one bright spark in a turgid attacking display. Twice he hit the woodwork with shots of his own before teeing up Merino. It’s not always the case that maximum bonus points reflect the best player on the pitch, but this time it did.

“Obviously, his age is always something that puts a question mark on how we have to deal with him, but every time that he’s given us, he’s always ‘let me go, let me go, let me go.’ When a player is giving you all those signs, you shouldn’t stop it. You have to play with that freedom, that creativity, that confidence that he’s playing with at the minute and the players around him believe in him. So, let him go because he’s a massive threat, massive talent and he deserves to play.” – Mikel Arteta on Ethan Nwaneri

Bukayo Saka (£10.2m) will return eventually (March 9 is a very optimistic return date from FPL) but Nwaneri might be able to get through till Blank Gameweek 29 at least without much threat to his minutes.

LEICESTER BLANK AT HOME AGAIN

Arsenal had a couple of scares on Saturday, with Wilfred Ndidi (£4.9m) twice going close. Myles Lewis-Skelly (£4.5m) also did brilliantly to divert a cross behind shortly before Merino’s opener.

Overall, though, their ninth clean sheet of the season arrived without much fuss. No side has conceded fewer goals (22) or expected goals (21.59) than Arsenal in 2024/25.

As for Leicester, they’ve got a real problem in front of goal. They’ve scored on just four occasions in their last 10 Premier League fixtures. Zero goals have arrived in their last five matches at the King Power.

It’s Brentford at home in Gameweek 26 – we might even be considering Mark Flekken (£4.4m) in the Scout Picks at this rate.

The Foxes may be meeting Thomas Frank’s side without James Justin (£4.1m). The right-back suffered a foot injury, was taken off and was later seen in a protective boot.

“Of course, it’s a first assessment. We have to wait and see tomorrow, the reaction. But we had to take him off in the 42nd minute, it’s a moment where you don’t want to make a substitution, of course, but we had too.” – Ruud van Nistelrooy on James Justin

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