Arsenal's emergency number nine Mikel Merino should continue over Viktor Gyokeres in the first XI for the time being, Gunners expert Charles Watts has exclusively told Sports Mole.
Summer signing Gyokeres returned from a hamstring injury for Sunday's Premier League London derby with Chelsea, but Merino got the nod from the first whistle and repaid Mikel Arteta's faith in him once again.
The Spain international scored Arsenal's equalising header in their 1-1 draw with the Blues, meaning that he has directly contributed to a goal in each of his last three Premier League starts following assists against Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland.
Arsenal make a swift return to action against Brentford on Wednesday evening, and Watts has explained why he would continue with Merino in the final third over Gyokeres for the midweek London derby.
"It's impossible to ignore what he does," Watts said. "Twenty-five goal involvements for club and country in 2025, which is just crazy. He gets himself into such good, smart positions, and this is a guy who's never done this before. It's not something that you feel that he had in him.
"There's been no sign to suggest that this was possible, but he answered Arsenal's call in the second half of last season, he's shown that it's not a one-off. It wasn't a fluke. He's developed that knack of being in the right place at the right time. And when the chance does arise, he will take it.
Charles Watts in "no rush" to remove Mikel Merino from Arsenal XI © Sports Mole
"It was a great header, he made that his own. Brilliant from Saka, don't get me wrong. But Merino, I wouldn't be in a rush to get him out of the starting 11. It's going to take Gyokeres a while to get up to speed.
"I'd certainly be starting Merino tomorrow night. The guy just scores goals and creates chances for others."
Merino's leveller came barely 10 minutes after Arsenal fell behind to a Trevoh Chalobah header from a corner, as the Club World Cup winners beat the set-piece specialists at their own dead-ball game.
The absences of both William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes significantly hurt Arsenal in both boxes; the latter was known to be missing with a thigh injury, but Saliba was an unexpected absence with a knock.
Rather than deploy one or two of Ben White, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori centrally, Arteta paired new signings Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie together for the first time in the Premier League, and both men picked up yellow cards in the first half.
While Watts was under no illusions that Saliba and Gabriel's omissions were costly, he reserved praise for how Mosquera and Hincapie stood up to the task.
How much did Arsenal miss Gabriel, Saliba vs. Chelsea? © Imago
"It hurt them all over the place," he added. "Arsenal looked pretty edgy because they had that new centre-back pairing - Mosquera especially, everything was pretty rushed on the ball. I don't think you would have got that same feeling if it was Gabriel and Saliba.
"The build-up play, especially not having Saliba, who is just the pass monster. They didn't have the physicality, the leadership of Gabriel. He would have loved that atmosphere, would have loved Chelsea trying to wind everyone up.
"I thought the two young centre-backs did well given how tough a job it was. They did look edgy, it did take them a while, but on the whole, they stood up to it pretty well. The start of the second half, everything that could have gone wrong in the first couple of minutes did go wrong.
"You knew what the message was going to be - we've got players on the yellow cards, don't get sucked into anything, don't give them anything. Just stay calm, let our man advantage count. And within two minutes, Hincapie gives away a free kick, Raya comes running out, has to give away a corner, they score.
"Arteta turned around at Albert Stuivenberg and just shook his head. I don't think that happens with Gabriel and Saliba there."
Arteta confirmed in Tuesday's press conference that Saliba's issue will settle down in a matter of days, so Hincapie and Mosquera are likely to reprise their central pairing against Brentford in midweek.
> Click here to listen to the full reaction to Arsenal's draw with Chelsea