Ian Wright hails ‘brilliant’ Arsenal star who Riccardo Calafiori might now owe a compliment 

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Riccardo Calafiori was one of the Arsenal defenders sacrificed for a forward during the Gunners’ dramatic late comeback win vs Newcastle United.

The Italian duelled admirably on the left against Jacob Murphy before he went off, a winger who a lot of Premier League defenders now struggle to contain.

But Riccardo Calafiori delivered another solid shift for Mikel Arteta, explaining why he’s keeping the equally impressive Myles Lewis-Skelly out of the team.

But in place of Calafiori, Mikel Merino was deployed at St James’ Park to face his old side, and he came on in an attacking midfield role.

And after only 15 or so minutes on the pitch, Merino drew Arsenal level with a superb header, the kind of finish fans in N5 have become accustomed to.

Mikel Merino proves he’s Arsenal’s most prolific goalscorer right now

That being said, Merino previously gave Calafiori a new nickname owing to his goalscoring, hailing him as a “Goleatore”, which roughly translates to someone who often scores goals. 

And following his header against Newcastle, Calafiori might now need to return that praise in Merino’s direction.

Merino has scored more goals in 2025 than any other Arsenal player – a remarkable record considering he only played a handful of games up front for Arteta last season.

READ MORE: Forget Odegaard, it was ‘powerful’ Arsenal star who proved everyone wrong vs Newcastle

But in terms of praise, Arsenal legend Ian Wright was also quick to commend Merino for his superbly taken goal during the game.

Wright was covering the match for the Premier League, and he pointed out that Merino is always a ‘problem’ for opposition sides when he comes on.

Wright said: “Getting into the box at this stage, Merino is always going to cause a problem.

“If you’re in the right area, and the ball is coming in with that whip on it, you can just guide it in. Merino has done brilliantly to get it in.”

Jurrien Timber is quietly having a superb season for Arsenal

In terms of dishing out praise, Jurrien Timber also deserves his fair share.

Preferred to Ben White on the right this season, Timber has been superb in every aspect.

The Dutch international is the perfect mix of physicality, attacking spontaneity and defensive prowess.

Timber made light work of Anthony Gordon on the right, who was quiet throughout, and the England international was eventually subbed off.

Both Calafiori and Timber have raised their game to another level this season, and that’s quite the compliment as they were both excellent last term too.

And if Arsenal finally go on to win the trophies their football often deserves this season, they’ll have several excellent defenders to thank for their contributions.