‘Problems’: Paul Merson says £35m Arsenal player could struggle against Chelsea

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Arsenal face Chelsea on Saturday evening in a game that should be a very tightly-contest encounter.

Yes, the Blues haven’t been in the best of form this season, but they have some very talented players and they have picked up two good results as of late.

Arsenal can’t go into this game thinking it will be a cakewalk, and according to Paul Merson, writing in his column for Sportskeeda, Chelsea could well cause some issues for Arsenal.

Indeed, Merson reckons that Raheem Sterling could be a real issue for Oleksandr Zinchenko, claiming that if he plays on the right wing, he could cause the Ukrainian some real issues.

Sterling could cause Zinchenko problems

Merson gave his verdict on how this game could go and how the £35m Arsenal player could struggle.

“Arsenal’s biggest strength is their midfield three. With Chelsea, you don’t know what the team is going to be, but I know what their midfield looks like – Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, and Conor Gallagher. I expect Sterling to play on the right because he can cause Zinchenko problems,” Merson wrote.

Won’t be easy for Zinchenko

Zinchenko is a fantastic player, but he can have problems against this type of winger.

A player who wants to get in behind or go direct at Zinchenko can be kryptonite for the Ukrainian, and Sterling could well cause issues down that flank.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that Sterling will be playing on that wing as he’s operated off the left quite a lot this season, but, as Merson says, Pochettino would be wise to match him up against Zinchenko.

This is certainly an intriguing sub-plot heading into this game that we should keep an eye on.