Leandro Trossard’s performance against Leicester on Saturday thrilled Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. His remarks might jeopardize Eddie Nketiah’s chances of making the team again.

Leandro Trossard impressed against Leicester

Nketiah had played every minute of every Arsenal match since the World Cup. However, he dropped to the bench at the King Power Stadium ahead of a busy run of fixtures.

There is no injury for the striker but he was given a rest due to a heavy workload. However, he may not come straight back into the starting XI against Everton on Wednesday if Arteta’s post-match quotes are anything to go by.

Trossard impressed during his 70 minutes on the pitch. He was the unfortunate victim of VAR in the first half when a sublime goal was ruled out for an earlier foul by Ben White.

The Belgian picked up the ball on the edge of the box and curled an unstoppable effort past Danny Ward. Trossard spent the majority of his time at Brighton as a winger but occasionally played centrally.

He interlinked well with Gabriel Martinelli and drifted wide when he set up the Brazilian for the only goal of the game. That was part of what impressed Arteta about Trossard’s performance.

He said: “[Trossard played] really well. I think he was really good. He got involved in many situations that could have led to many more big chances.

“He was involved in that incredible goal that he scored that was disallowed. He was involved in the goal of Gabi with the pass that he played to him.

Eddie Nketiah came on as a sub against Leicester

“He’s so good in tight spaces and small spaces with that creativity to open people up. I’m really happy we have him.”

Arteta says playing Trossard gives the option of changing tactics during the game. Martinelli has rarely played centrally under Arteta but did so during his early days at Arsenal when Unai Emery was head coach.

Asked if he will adopt the same approach going forward, he added: “We had the option. We had the option to play Gabi as a nine and Leo on the left.

“We had to see how the game developed and what Leicester wanted to do. I wanted to have that option on the field to make that change if necessary and I think it was great because he was really good.”

source: www.express.co.uk