On paper, you would expect Arsenal to beat Luton Town, but in the pressure cooker of a title race, not everything goes as planned.
Last season, it was these types of games that cost Mikel Arteta and his players the Premier League title.
But this around, they ensured there were no issues as Arsenal recorded a 2-0 win over the relegation-threatened side.
What will please Arteta even more is that he made several changes to his Arsenal XI, including a rare start this season for Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson.
The performance of Smith Rowe pleased Ian Wright – The Hale-End academy product has had to deal with several injuries in recent years.
But the performance of Nelson, who was starting instead of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, was criticised by the legendary striker.
Wright felt that Nelson, who was starting his first Premier League game of the season, was ‘playing a little bit safe’ during the game, as he told Premier League Productions (03/04/24 at 8:25 pm).
In the end, the 24-year-old was subbed off after 75 minutes, with his team securing a crucial three points in their quest to become champions.
Reiss Nelson against Luton Town
“Reiss Nelson has played a little bit safe,” said Wright.
“You would like to see him get past Doughty. Go past him and stretch him, like Martinelli would do. We need somebody going that way (in behind) and I think sometimes he is playing a lot of safe balls inside.”
Arsenal’s squad
You feel Arteta might have to dip into his squad again during these coming weeks because some huge games are coming up.
It’s a very tricky tie away at Brighton at the weekend, before the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final showdown against Bayern Munich next week.
In between their two games against Bayern, they face Champions League-chasing Aston Villa.
But the games are going to continue to pile on because Wolves, Chelsea and Tottenham games will round off the month.
That’s a whole lot of games. You can’t expect the likes of Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, to name a few, to play all of those matches, so those fringe players now need to step up.
The post ‘He is playing a lot safe’: Ian Wright critical of Arsenal 24-year-old's performance against Luton appeared first on HITC.
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