Arsenal possesses a valuable asset in Ethan Nwaneri, who has the potential to resolve a critical issue with Mikel Arteta.

Mikel Arteta is not particularly fond of social media; however, if the Arsenal manager had perused it in the past few days, he would have observed a

recurring motif. Following Bournemouth’s unexpected loss on Saturday, there has been a significant increase in the demand for Ethan Nwaneri to commence Tuesday’s Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk. That is not unexpected, given the circumstances of Arsenal’s defeat over the weekend. They only managed one shot on target this season, as they were reduced to 10 men for the third time. Arteta emphasized that it was challenging to evaluate Arsenal’s performance in the aftermath of William Saliba’s dismissal; however, they encountered difficulties in generating offense during the thirty minutes in which all eleven players were on the field.

Despite the absence of their commander, Martin Odegaard, who is currently injured, Arsenal has managed to function relatively well. Arteta has transitioned from a 4-3-3 formation to a more conventional 4-4-2, with Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard leading the attack. Arsenal has been able to outnumber their opponents in the center of the pitch as a result of the pair’s effective combination with Declan Rice and Thomas Partey. However, in the match against Bournemouth, Arteta reverted to his preferred 4-3-3 formation, positioning Partey at the base of the midfield with Rice and Mikel Merino ahead of him. Arsenal’s physical presence was significantly enhanced by this, as Merino joked on Monday that the Gunners now resemble a basketball team due to their size. However, the absence of Bukayo Saka only served to exacerbate the dearth of guile. Saka was the highest-ranked player in the Premier League for chances created prior to the international break this month. Arsenal was devoid of a creative spark in the absence of Odegaard and Saka. Given that the duo may be absent once more on Tuesday, it is unsurprising that the demand for Nwaneri to commence is increasing.