Lucas Perez set for Arsenal start instead of Alexis Sanchez?

The two new Arsenal players signed by Arsene Wenger at the end of the summer transfer window may have only trained with their new teammates for the first time today, as reported by the official Arsenal website, but there is a chance that both Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi could be thrown into action straight away when Arsenal host Southampton in the Premier League match on Saturday.

The German international was always likely to come into the team as early as possible due to the injury problems of Per Mertesacker and Gabriel leaving the boss with only the young Rob Holding to partner Koscielny in the centre of defence.

The question of whether the Spanish striker would come in was a more difficult one to answer though, especially after Olivier Giroud proved his fitness by starting both of the France games during this international break. Even though Lucas is unlikely to start in the centre forward position against the Saints, he might be in line for one of the other forward positions, depending on what Wenger wants to do with Alexis Sanchez.

The Chilean completed both games for his country and the second of those took place in the early hours of this morning, so he will not be back in London until much later today or tomorrow. If the boss thinks it is a risk for him to play again so soon and with so little time to rest and recover then there will be a gap to fill on the left side of our attack.

I would expect Theo Walcott and Giroud to start but it will be interesting to see who fills that third spot. If it is not Alexis Sanchez then the most obvious options are the new striker, Alex Iwobi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who already has some games and a great goal under his belt this season.

Iwobi is training again after his minor injury and he looked good in pre-season and both he and the Ox have Premier League experience but do you think Wenger might hand a debut start to the new Gunner?

Bob.

Tags Iwobi Lucas ox Perez

11 Comments

    1. If you miss him that much then Buy a poster mate, thats if! You haven’t already got one stuck on your bedroom wall ?
      Just kidding ?
      Anyways, It will probably be too soon for Iwobi, considering that he just returned from an injury.

      As much as everyone wants to see Perez start , whether it be on the wing or in the CF position, I get the feeling that wenger will dissapoint many by not resting Sanchez and also by not including Perez in the starting lineup, infact I wouldn’t be surprised if Mustafi is on the bench aswell, against Southampton.
      I hope that I’m wrong.. but this is the Wenger way that I’m talking about! ?

  1. To be frank, if Sanchez is not starting, I expect the Ox to be in the starting 11. Because due to the international games involvement and champions league game that is coming up, I don’t expect Giroud to play the full 90 minutes. It will be too risky to throw all our striking options into the field at the same time. Though I am optimistic to watch our new signings, it will be better for the coach to decide when they are ready. And Iwobi needs time too

  2. Alexis wants to play every game no matter what, so it’s not a mystery whether Sanchez is playing. If he’s fit, he’ll be on the pitch. Ox or Walcott on the other wing… idk, doesn’t really matter, throw the dice. Iwobi is better at making things happen tbh.

    1. “Iwobi is better at making things happen tbh.”

      How many assists and goals does Iwobi have in the last one year per minutes played, versus Theo?

      1. Theo: 9 goals 7 assists for 2,076 minutes played in 15/16 = 1 goal every 230.6 minutes and 1 assist 296.5 minutes

        Alex Iwobi: 2 goals 3 assists for 1,123 minutes played in senior games in 15/16 = 1 goal every 561.5 minutes and 1 assist every 374.3 minutes

        Form your own opinion.

  3. starting Perez on the wing is synonymous to what happened with Podolski,Reyes. we signed Perez to strike why cnt Giroud just be benched?

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