Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Spurs: 5 key players to watch – Here come the new boys

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 03: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Everton at Emirates Stadium on February 3, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 03: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Everton at Emirates Stadium on February 3, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal, Mesut Ozil
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 03: Mesut Ozil looks on during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Everton at Emirates Stadium on February 3, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /

3. Mesut Ozil

If the astonishing and utterly unexpected signing of Mesut Ozil to a new contract said anything, it was this: This is now the German’s team. Alexis Sanchez has gone; the weapons have now been provided. The responsibility to lead is now Ozil’s. It is time for him to deliver.

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What better way to do exactly that, then, than in a North London derby that will have massive consequences on both team’s respective league standings at the end of the year — by Saturday afternoon, there could be a one-point or seven-point gap. Certainly, his perceived inability to perform when it mattered, against the top-six, especially away from home, is a critique that Ozil has slowly been eradicating.

There are, though, some who still protest that he goes quiet when Arsenal need him most. It is now an outdated and inaccurate take. This season particularly, Ozil has taken many a game and enforced his magical imprint on it, even the big ones. But that does not mean that his work his done. Arsenal need him to do it again.

Even with the addition of Henrikh Mkhitaryan to ease the creative burden on Ozil, it is still difficult to envisage how Arsenal can have a successful attacking performance without their midfield fulcrum having some form of influence. It may have been Mkhitaryan, for example, that amassed three assists against Everton, but Ozil had a direct hand in all of the first three goals and actually created more chances. This is his team. Now, he just has to prove it.