Key Arsenal player should be dropped immediately and these stars must do better, I’m only excited when Gunners get corners

Arsenal have to immediately drop Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka must improve if they want to win the Premier League.

That’s the view of talkSPORT host and Gunners fan Darren Bent, who has admitted he’s now concerned about their title chances.

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Mikel Arteta‘s side were beaten 3-2 at home to Manchester United on Sunday, seeing their gap at the top get trimmed to just four points.

And with Manchester City and Aston Villa now breathing down their neck, bad memories will start to seep into some minds.

Bent, who has already seen Arsenal slip up when leading a Premier League title race on multiple occasions, has tried to identify where things are going wrong for his team.

He believes that dropping captain Martin Odegaard and starting Eberechi Eze instead would be a good place to start.

Rather than being called upon to save the Gunners on Sunday, Arteta substituted his skipper before the hour mark at the Emirates Stadium.

“Defensively this season, Arsenal have been rock solid, but the attacking areas need serious work,” Bent said on talkSPORT Drive.

“Next game. Premier League. Odegaard out. Out.

“Honestly, he came back after Eze had that impact against Tottenham and he was better and I thought: ‘Okay, here we go, we’re getting the Odegaard back from two years ago’.

“But he’s gone back to his older self, offering nothing… give Eze four or five games.”

He later added: “Eze has to start, Odegaard has to come out and Eze should get a run of games now, he’s a special talent.”

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Saka among stars who must improve

Bent went on to further berate Arsenal’s attack, picking out Saka and Gyokeres for their poor performances this season too.

The loss to Man United followed two 0-0 draws against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool, with multiple forwards off-form.

Saka has failed to score in his last 13 games in all competitions, while Gyokeres hasn’t scored from open play in 11 Premier League matches.

Elsewhere, Gabriel Martinelli hasn’t netted in 13 league outings, Noni Madueke is still without a league goal for the club and Leandro Trossard has scored one in his last 11 games.

“Saka has been incredible for Arsenal for such a long time, you can’t take anything away from him,” Bent started on Drive.

“But this season, he hasn’t been good enough, in terms of his output of goals and assists… it’s not been good enough.

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“Gyokeres hasn’t been good enough. Trossard at one point was our most reliable attacker, the last five, six games, he hasn’t been good enough either.

“Gabriel Jesus… it hasn’t worked for him, so the fact that he’s starting, we’ve seen for three years he’s not the guy to take Arsenal to where they want to get to.”

One source of excitement

Arsenal’s recent results are sure to have raised some doubts about whether they will be able to remain at the top of the table.

And Bent is now worrying that their title chances are in trouble, replying when asked if he’s concerned: “Of course. The problem we have now is not capitalising when given opportunities.

“When City drop points, Villa drop points and Arsenal have the opportunity to win, they haven’t taken it.”

He then went on to point out the fact that the only bit of enjoyment he is getting from Gunners games is when they win a set piece.

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Arteta’s side have become overly reliant on goals from corners and free-kicks, with almost 30 per cent coming via those methods.

“And what’s worrying me as well is how can my genuine excitement come from corners and set plays?” Bent added.

“That’s a worry… the only time I’m getting excited is when we get a corner and I’m thinking: ‘Here we go, there’s a genuine chance.'”