Ebere Eze left thinking 'will I play many more times this season' after Arsenal snub

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Paul Merson has issued a brutal Ebere Eze Arsenal verdict, with Bukayo Saka preferred to him for the Premier League clash against Wolves . Outside of his hat-trick in the North London Derby, the summer signing has struggled for consistent minutes and form, with that continuing for the trip to Molineux.

Eze was hugely impressive in the FA Cup fourth round win over Wigan last Sunday as he grabbed two assists . Earlier in the week however, he was hooked at half-time in the 1-1 draw against Brentford with Martin Odegaard replacing him and making an immediate impact.

Though Odegaard is now injured, Eze was only named on the bench against Wolves as Saka started in the No.10 role, as he did against Wigan. Merson shared his thoughts on that decision, and Eze's thinking following the snub.

He said on Sky Sports : "That was Wigan, no disrespect, this is the Premier League. I don’t get it, it's a hard position to play, people think that you can go just go where you want.

"You're the one that's got to make things happen, there's a lot of pressure on you. If this goes wrong tonight, everybody looks at the No.10.

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"With the way that Wolves play, there is not going to be a lot of space for him, he'll get a lot more space out on the wing. If I was Eze I'd be thinking ‘am I going to play for Arsenal many more times this season?’

"I thought they were bringing Eze in as the X-factor, that No.10 to make things happen, his ball against Wigan the other day was through the eye of the needle.

"He can play that ball, he's got that in him, he's played there a lot more than Saka and as I've said it's not a position you just throw someone into.

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"I hope Saka gets a hat-trick but it's not where you just throw someone in and say ‘go and enjoy yourself’, its a hard position.

"On the wing he's always looking that way (forwards), when he's playing at 10 he has everything behind him, it's a different game, he's got to have eyes in the back of his head to flick balls round, I hope I’m wrong but I expect it to be difficult for him tonight."

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Saka did justify his inclusion as he grabbed the opening goal after just a few minutes when he ghosted into the box to nod home a Declan Rice cross.

Eze, meanwhile, has taken some criticism from Arteta and his Arsenal teammates in recent months with more demands of him off the ball made. However, the Arsenal boss was quick to praise his display in a deeper midfield role.

He said: "Yes, some superb goals and his intentions, I think the risk that he took in the final third, the amount of shots that he tried to take as well, I think that's really positive. That's what I want from him."

Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz also being absent looked set to hand Eze more minutes, but Saka getting the nod suggests the former Crystal Palace man is not yet fully trusted by Arteta.