Arsenal Breathe a Breath of Relief Thanks to Mikel Merino's Odd Role

LEICESTER, SATURDAY – Mikel Merino helped Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta find a solution to the striker crisis that hit him since mid-February. Coming in as a substitute, Merino scored a brace or two goals to bring “The Cannon” home a 2-0 victory over Leicester City, Saturday (2/15/2025), from the King Power Stadium.

Arsenal enters the 25th week of the English Premier League this season with the loss of three main forwards. They are Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, followed by Kai Havertz, the team's top scorer.

Without those three players, the Gunners' attack line lost its quality. Relying on Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri, and Raheem Sterling, Arsenal were only able to produce four shots, only one of which was on target. A record of 0.39 expected goals (xG) closed Arsenal's offensive performance in the first half.

Arteta's decision to bring in Merino to replace Sterling in the 69th minute yielded positive results. Appearing for the first time as a number nine player in his decade-long professional career did not make Merino feel awkward.

Merino actually helped Arsenal have a forward roaming in the middle of Leicester's penalty box. This was not available when Trossard was positioned as the central striker. This is because the Belgian player is more comfortable moving freely, rather than waiting for service from his teammates.

Just two minutes into the field, Merino had already created a threatening situation for the home team's defense. Nwaneri delivered a cross with the outside of his foot to serve Merino. Unfortunately, the Spanish national team player was a millisecond late in meeting Nwaneri's pass with his right foot.

However, Merino did not waste the next two assists from his teammates. He met Nwaneri's cross with a header for the first goal in the 81st minute. Six minutes later, Merino followed up Trossard's low cross in a quick Arsenal counter-attack initiated by Riccardo Calafiori.

Thanks to Merino's brace, Arsenal briefly closed the gap with Liverpool at the top of the standings. They reduced the gap to four points ahead of the "Reds" facing Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sunday (2/16/2025), at Anfield Stadium.

"We will keep trying to catch Liverpool. For that, we need three points every week, even though we know how difficult it is game by game," Arsenal right-back Jurrien Timber told Sky Sports.

Amid the striker crisis, Merino has the adequate skills to become Arsenal's emergency striker. He stands at 1.89 meters tall, which gives him the potential to win aerial duels against opposing central defenders.

In addition, Merino, who was recruited from Real Sociedad, is also a typical Spanish player with a high level of intelligence. This allows the 28-year-old midfielder to quickly adapt to several unfamiliar positions.

All roles in the central midfield sector have been carried out by him. Starting from the box-to-box midfielder, anchor, to playmaker, Merino has done it well. Then, he was also placed as a wing midfielder and center back.

As a result, playing as a center forward or number nine adds to the long list of positions that Merino can play well. The two goals against Leicester were Merino's first chances to score as a substitute at Arsenal. He

Merino has also contributed four goals for the Gunners in his debut season in the Premier League. He only needs two more goals to surpass his best goal record in a single season in the top flight competition. Before moving to England, Merino had produced five goals in the 2019-2020 and 2023-2024 Spanish League seasons.

For the brace record, Merino produced his third career brace. Previously, he was able to produce two braces while still defending Osasuna in the Spanish League Second Division in the 2015-2016 season.

Merino admitted that Arteta had only informed him to take on the role of center forward on Saturday morning, or just a few hours before kick-off. In order to carry out the role of a striker well, Merino had discussed it with one of Arsenal's assistant coaches before the match.

"It's the first time in my career that I play in that position (center forward). He (Arteta) told me to maximize my strengths. Luckily, I could help the team with two goals today," Merino told TNT Sports.

When asked about playing more as a striker in future games, Merino was not keen on the idea. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to be honest,” he added.

He also presented the unique brace as a Valentine's Day gift for his wife. "I think she will appreciate this gift more than a rose and some chocolates," Merino joked.

Leicester winger Bilal El Khannous regretted his team's failure to maintain focus until the end of the match. According to him, the "Foxes" conceded two goals due to a lack of concentration in defensive situations.

"We were able to match them for 80 minutes. We must not lose concentration against a team like Arsenal. Merino scored two easy goals that we should have defended better," El Khannous was quoted as saying by the BBC.

The defeat to Arsenal left Leicester in 18th place, with their path out of the relegation zone increasingly difficult.