Michael Carrick assesses attacking options for Arsenal

The fact there are chances to change the attack must be viewed as a positive, when coming up against the Gunners’ famously miserly defence.

It is clear Carrick wants to keep the north Londoners guessing when it comes to his selection on the day, but Mbeumo has the attributes to operate down the middle and cause any side problems.

“It’s just variety, in terms of the strengths in some ways,” added Carrick. “I think, Bryan, I gave him a bit of a free role in many ways, in a partnership with Bruno [Fernandes] last week, to drift and to fill different spaces.

“Ben’s very good at playing on the last line and running behind and I think we’ve seen that in recent weeks, he’s done great to get his goals, so he’s in a good place.