Below-par duo could hand Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta his first conundrum

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Mikel Arteta is yet to taste victory as Arsenal boss having replaced Unai Emery earlier this month. 

His team were beaten by Chelsea on Sunday, having drawn their previous contest with Bournemouth.

The former Manchester City assistant boss will hope to find the winning formula quickly. Arsenal are languishing in 12th and can ill-afford bad run at this stage of the season.

On Sunday, Arteta chose to play Reiss Nelson on the wing instead of Nicolas Pepe. His performance was somewhat erratic and the 20-year-old doesn’t quite look up to scratch just yet.

Ex-Lille star Pepe cost Arsenal a fortune and getting him firing will surely be a priority for the new incumbent – although it might not be an easy task.

The £71 million (BBC) man has been poor since arriving. He has scored just twice and registered two assists from his 17 appearances in the Premier League.

It’s fair to say that given the cost and the £140,000-a-week wages (Spotrac), Arsenal will have expected more.

Nelson not really having an impact at the weekend could leave Arteta with his first conundrum since taking over.

In the summer Arsenal supporters bemoaned a lack of genuine width in the squad.

Rotation

Emery addressed that by adding Pepe and including Nelson in his plans following his return from a loan stint at Hoffenheim.

Both are badly out of form, however, and Gunners supporters might like to see another wide option added during the January window.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is firing the goals once again but with a quality winger, he could bag even more.

Other areas of the pitch do need addressing as well but the wingers who are badly out of form definitely give Arteta a problem.

It seems unlikely that Arsenal will spend heavily during January so that will probably mean one of Nelson or Pepe having to step up.

Only time will tell but right now neither of the Arsenal duo looks capable of producing the goods on a consistent basis.