Paul Merson predicts whether Eberechi Eze will be named in Arsenal XI vs Newcastle United

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Arsenal are back in Premier League action this weekend, and Mikel Arteta faces a decision on whether to start Eberechi Eze against Newcastle United.

Eberechi Eze sealed a dream move to Arsenal over the summer, joining his boyhood club from Crystal Palace.

The last week has been a successful one for Eze, who made a telling impact off the bench by setting up Gabriel Martinelli’s late leveller against Manchester City.

Eze then scored his first Arsenal goal on Wednesday night, slotting the Gunners into the lead against Port Vale in the Carabao Cup.

Eze’s attention turns back to the Premier League this weekend as Arsenal travel to take on Newcastle United, though whether he will start is unclear.

• READ MORE: Micah Richards says why he thinks Eberechi Eze didn’t start for Arsenal against Man City

Paul Merson predicts Eberechi Eze’s role for Arsenal v Newcastle United

A trip to St James’ Park is never easy, and Arsenal lost twice on Tyneside last season.

Mikel Arteta will be wary of another testing trip to the North East, and Eze’s role will be on his mind.

Eze could play on the left flank or operate in Arsenal’s midfield three as the creative hub amid injury concerns over Martin Odegaard.

Arteta would have to sacrifice some defensive solidity in order to accommodate Eze in the starting XI, something he wasn’t prepared to do in the first half against City.

Arsenal legend Paul Merson has now offered his view, telling Sportskeeda that he thinks Eze will start on the bench at St James’ Park.

Merson admitted that he has a ‘feeling’ that Gabriel Martinelli will start on the left flank at Newcastle.

Merson would prefer to see Eze and Bukayo Saka flanking Viktor Gyokeres in attack, but he just doesn’t think Arteta will be so bold.

“Arsenal must not sit back in this game; if they do that, Newcastle will score,” said Merson.

“I’d play Saka, Eze and Viktor Gyokeres as the front-three here, but I don’t think Arteta will do that if I’m being honest.

“I have a feeling Gabriel Martinelli will start instead of Eze. He’s a disciplined player and can be useful with his pace. But Eze is the X-factor, he can unlock defences like he showed it against City,” he added.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	5	5	0	0	11	5	6	15
2	ArsenalArsenal	5	3	1	1	10	2	8	10
3	TottenhamTottenham	5	3	1	1	10	3	7	10
4	BournemouthBournemouth	5	3	1	1	6	5	1	10
5	Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace	5	2	3	0	6	2	4	9

Arsenal fans will hope for daring Mikel Arteta line-up

Arsenal have been solid if unspectacular to open the season, and fans have been growing a little frustrated with a lack of open-play creativity.

Arteta may well line up with a midfield trio of Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino at Newcastle, but fans have already seen that creativity has been in short supply with those three starting.

Bringing Eze into the midfield would be a daring step for Arteta, but the Arsenal boss may go with a strong and solid team to cope with the Newcastle threat.

Eze will play some part, but fans would love to see him in from the start after showing his creative and goalscoring talent in recent days.