Arsenal -Baas Mikel Arteta left Paul Merson 'Flabbergasted' with an analysis of Chelsea at the weekend.
The Gunners defeated the blues – their London Rivals – 1-0 in Premier League promotion, with Mikel Merino on their way to the only goal of the game from a corner in the first half of the luminaire.
It meant that Arteta's side kept their record of having the best defensive record in the division, which so far only took 24 goals of their 29 games – three less than Liverpool, who have admitted the second least.
In the meantime, Chelsea is impressed by the goal this season, but struggled in recent weeks, with Nicolas Jackson wounded and Talisman Cole Palmer also misses the match with a muscle problem.
However, that did not prevent Arteta from praising the rivals on his side, because he burned them 'the best attacking team in the competition with a mile'.
Merson, however, remained amazed by the analysis of the Spaniard and did not chop his words in giving his own views on the side he supports on Sky Sports.
“I don't know what I'm missing,” said Merson, who made his name like a player in line for Arsenal. 'When Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer play, they are a good team. They take the best apart.
'Palmer is a better player when Jackson plays and Jackson is a better player when Palmer plays. That is fact.
“But I am stunned by that quote. I honestly don't understand that. There will be many Chelsea fans who think that: “Wow, what is he talking about?”
'Does Arteta say that because Chelsea has spent £ 1.6 billion but still has no attacker and cannot score a goal and fans moan him because Arsenal has no attacker?
'Unless Cole Palmer plays, I don't think Chelsea goals score. Chelsea is the best attacking team? They scored one goal against Leicester to win 1-0. Leicester, in their previous 20 games, had only failed once to let two or more goals in a Premier League match.
“I don't buy it. I don't buy in. '
Arteta had added: 'The statistics say it, everything I have seen, says it in open game. They can open you, they can walk in transitions, they have individual quality, every player in the line of defense can threaten inside.
“They can combine on both sides, their weaker sides, they are currently missing a number of major players.”
The blues have yielded four goals in their last four games, with one against Leicester and two against Copenhagen in the Conference League.
They fell well out of the running to win the Premier League – where many people thought they would be earlier in the season – and are now confronted with a fight to hold their top five place.
The men of Enzo Maresca, however, scored 53 league goals this season – only improved by Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City and level with the Gunners.
Comments