Sutton urges Arteta to pick Gabriel Martinelli up front for Arsenal tie

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Chris Sutton has told the Daily Mail that he would like to see Gabriel Martinelli start up front for Arsenal’s Europa League tie with Villarreal on Thursday.

The Gunners are heading into a season-defining game. All of Arsenal’s eggs are certainly now in the Europa League basket.

Mikel Arteta’s men have received a huge boost ahead of the game. As reported by the official website, the Arsenal boss has confirmed that both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are in contention to return from injury.

However, Sutton has suggested ahead of the game that the tie is the perfect opportunity to have Martinelli lead the line.

“There is space to exploit behind this Villarreal back line,” he told the Daily Mail.

“A ball over the top and a curved run from Antoine Griezmann was how Barcelona equalised against them in La Liga last week. That’s a job made for Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli.

“Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are struggling to be fit for this semi-final first leg, so I’d like to see the 19-year-old Brazilian in the centre forward position.”

TBR View: Huge call to start Martinelli up front

It would arguably be a brave call to pick Martinelli up front, particularly if Lacazette and Aubameyang were available.

Both the latter two have come in for criticism at various points throughout the season. However, they have scored 31 goals between them in all competitions.

Martinelli meanwhile, has only scored once this season. Of course, that comes after working his way back from injury and then taking a little while to really break back into Arteta’s plans.

The Brazilian looks destined to be a talisman for Arsenal for years to come in the future. But asking him to start up front in such a pivotal game could potentially be a huge task.