Injuries decimated Arsenal last season.
Yet, when a supposed hole appears in this team, a solution isn’t far away.
Even with six attackers on their sidelines, the goals keep on flowing. They took their foot off the gas but still managed to strike three past Slavia Prague.
Makeshift forward Mikel Merino snatched two, after a first-half Bukayo Saka penalty, to continue the Gunners’ unbeaten run. It was also an eighth consecutive clean-sheet, matching a club record set back in 1903…
Daily Mail Sport’s ISAAN KHAN was at Fortuna Arena to run the rule over the game.
1. Who said Arsenal are suffering an injury crisis up front?
The injuries are piling up in the Arsenal frontline – yet the clear, and obvious, remedy for Mikel Arteta lies at the feet of Merino.
Arsenal are nursing injuries to six forwards, Viktor Gyokeres the latest to be stricken having asked to be withdrawn at half-time of Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Burnley after suffering a muscular issue.
He has joined fellow attackers Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus on the sidelines.
Arteta was on Monday bemoaning his limited attacking options which, on the basis of Tuesday night, is not the crisis he’s suggesting.
Merino’s knack to find himself in the right position, at the right time, is impressive and follows a solid scoring run this season at international level.
The 29-year-old has struck six goals in his last three World Cup qualifiers for Spain. In 2025, it’s now 19 goals for club and country. He also played as a No9 last season from February onwards for the injured Kai Havertz, scoring seven goals in that period.
The makeshift striker had a quiet first half, his team-mates unable to find him in the area. Within a minute of the restart, though, Merino had coolly volleyed Leandro Trossard’s cross into the net.
It was the kind of first-time finish typical of a seasoned finisher. Then on 68 minutes, Merino beat Jakub Markovic in the air to nod Declan Rice’s cross into the net.
So not only can he finish well on the ground, but also offers an aerial threat, too.
The supposed hole Arteta has in attack is already being more than filled.
On Merino’s scoring exploits, Arteta said: ‘Today we are missing a lot of attacking players and we have to find different solutions.
‘You have to invent options if you don’t have them. He hadn’t played there (centre forward) before in his career but we have good experience from (him playing up front) last season.
‘My view was always he had really good timing and a capacity to finish in the box, especially one touch.’
2. Piero Hincapie adds a further dimension to Arsenal backline
The competition for a place in Arsenal’s backline means that the likes of Piero Hincapie are contenders, not starters.
Hincapie was an integral part of Bayer Leverkusen’s Invincibles 2023-24 campaign, the Bundesliga champions going the full league season unbeaten. At Arsenal, the versatile defender has some task on his hands to even break into the starting line-up.
Against Slavia Prague, though, Hincapie showed just why Arteta has brought him in despite the sheer defensive depth.
In comparison to Riccardo Calafiori, the Ecuadorian has a further injection of pace and looks to be more defensively-minded.
He won all four of his duels in the first period, and displayed good defensive positioning.
There was also a long-range pass to Leandro Trossard which rose eyebrows, dissecting the midfield with ease.
Hincapie has an important role to play this season, for sure.
3. Max Dowman breaks more records, as per
The rise and rise of Max Dowman continues. He became the youngest-ever player to feature in the Champions League, aged 15 years and 308 days.
It beats the record set by Youssoufa Moukoko, who was aged 16 years and 18 days.
Arteta has had a habit of breaking youngster records, giving Ethan Nwaneri his Arsenal debut against Brentford on September 18, 2022 to make him the youngest-ever Premier League player.
This season, Arteta has already turned to Dowman late on against Liverpool when Arsenal were behind, and started him against Brighton in the Carabao Cup last Wednesday where his dribbling ability and tenacity shone.
What a future he has.
4. Arsenal’s brick wall is just as fearsome in Europe
Many statistics have flown around of late illustrating how stupendously good Arsenal’s winning run has been.
They centre around the defence, an area Arteta has built his team’s foundations upon.
This was the Gunners’ eighth consecutive clean-sheet which equals a club record set back in 1903. This side are that immense defensively.
The north London club will take some stopping in both the Premier League and Champions League. Yet Tuesday night again reflected the Gunners’ ability to brush opponents aside even when they’re not in top gear.
Slavia Prague enjoyed 55 per cent possession in the first half, with two shots on target. Captain Lukas Provod was proving to be a handful and dragged a shot just wide of a post. They also had a penalty, for a Ben White high boot, overturned late on by the VAR.
In general, the home side were lacking a finisher and it told.
You could sense that no matter Arsenal’s coasting, there would only be one result. Only the Gunners and Inter Milan are yet to concede in the Champions League this season. That’s some defence to breakdown.
