Arsenal have two new players available, but who’ll lead the line?
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On the whole, Arsenal fans will be relatively happy with their club’s activity in the transfer window. Granted, it could have come sooner, but eventually manager Arsene Wenger managed to secure the signatures of both Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez.
And while it’s expected that Mustafi will slot straight into his plans at the back alongside Laurent Koscielny, it remains to be seen whether Arsenal’s new number nine will be thrown straight into the starting 11.
Of course, that’s what Gooners will want to see at the Emirates this weekend, but Wenger has a tough decision to make.
Ladbrokes News assesses the options available to the French manager…
Lucas Perez
He arrived at the Emirates for a fee thought to be in the region of £17m on the penultimate day of this summer’s transfer window, following an impressive campaign last time out for Deportivo La Coruna which brought about 17 goals and 11 assists.
On that basis, Wenger would be foolish not to start his new man against Southampton, but Perez has only featured once competitively this season, back on the opening weekend of La Liga, and thus match fitness might be a concern to Wenger.
On the other hand, the international break has allowed Perez almost two weeks to settle into life at Arsenal, and he might just be ready to lead the line for his new boss.
Olivier Giroud
Love him or hate him, this man just has a knack of silencing his critics. And wouldn’t it just be typical of the Frenchman to go out bag a hat-trick in response to Wenger signing another striker?
He missed the first game of the season somewhat controversially due to an extended break following his Euro 2016 campaign.
And having played two games in the last seven days for his national country, the 29-year-old is well and truly back to full fitness.
He’s scored three goals against the Saints in the league since arriving back in 2012, and will fancy his chances of finding the net again should he start.
Alexis Sanchez
It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if Wenger stuck with the same frontline he’s used in the opening three games of the season, and Sanchez was arguably the best player on the pitch last time out against Watford, scoring a goal, winning a penalty and assisting Mesut Ozil in a 3-1 victory.
The Chilean forward reportedly claimed he was as good as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi earlier this week.
Well, Alexis, the stage could be yours to prove that point on Saturday…
Who do you think Wenger should start with? Have your say in the comments section below!
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
