Arsenal face Chelsea in Saturday’s Premier League blockbuster at the Emirates Stadium as both teams look to protect their perfect starts to the season
Gary Neville and Ian Wright got into a disagreement about the quality of the forward lines in the Arsenal and Chelsea squads. The sides go head-to-head in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, where both the Gunners and the Blues have a 100 percent record on the line.
Arsenal defeated Coventry City and Aston Villa in their first two Premier League matches of the season, while Chelsea earned wins over Fulham and Brighton.
Wright and Neville were part of Sky Sports’ punditry team for their coverage of Arsenal vs Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium, and the duo got into a debate about the forward options available to Xabi Alonso and Mikel Arteta.
Neville suggested that he believes Arteta would prefer Chelsea’s attacking resources over the players currently at his disposal at Arsenal.
“If you say to Mikel Arteta: ‘Would you swap your forward line for Chelsea’s?’ He would swap,” Neville said.
“He’d put [Morgan] Rogers, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro up there in front of [Bukayo] Saka, [Kai] Havertz and [Ebere] Eze, he would. So it’s not the strongest part of Arsenal’s team, but what he’s done in defence and in midfield has become that good.
“If you don’t concede goals, you’ve got a great chance of winning nearly every single match. If you’re conceding goals, you’re going to lose more points.”
Wright, however, took exception to Neville’s view, with the Arsenal icon responding: “I’m not having that over Saka, Havertz and Eze. I’m not having that.”
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest news, analysis and much more on Mirror Football’s Facebook page
Neville then responded by saying: “You don’t think he’d [Arteta] pick Rogers, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro over those three [Havertz, Saka and Eze], Ian?”
Wright replied: “Not for me, no.” Neville then concluded the debate by saying: “Oh dear.”
Arsenal strengthened their attacking options this summer by bringing in Christos Tzolis, though they sanctioned the exits of Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have also strengthened their forward line considerably, with Rogers being joined by Geovany Quenda, Danny Welbeck, Emmanuel Emegha and Dastan Satpaev in making the move to Stamford Bridge before week’s deadline.
Join our WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login