Arsenal’s muddled and largely unremarkable start to the Premier League season was neatly encapsulated by the defeat at Manchester City before the most recent international break.

Though some highly questionable officiating contributed to City’s 10th win in 11 games, the result felt an inevitable one from the moment Arsene Wenger settled upon one of the more bizarre line-ups of his 21-year tenure.

While the left-field decision to select Francis Coquelin as an emergency centre-half was, to a degree, forced upon Wenger due to injuries and a desire to persist with a 3-4-3 formation which has never totally convinced, relegating  Alexandre Lacazette to the bench was senseless and bordered on total negligence.

The club’s record striker instantly made a mockery of the selection, scoring nine minutes after coming on a second half substitute, briefly hauling Arsenal back into a previously one-sided contest with the sort of deadly finish that has become his well-earned trademark on the back of over a century of goals for Lyon.

Alexandre Lacazette scored against Manchester City after coming on as a subsittute
Alexandre Lacazette has scored six goals in his first 12 games for Arsenal (Picture: Getty)

Arsenal strikers after 12 games

Alexandre Lacazette – 6 goals
Davor Suker – 6 goals
Alexis Sanchez – 5 goals
Thierry Henry – 2 goals
Robin van Persie – 2 goals
Olivier Giroud – 2 goals
Lukas Podolski – 2 goals

Arsenal were never likely to reproduce the sort of defensive shutout that helped them record their only victory at the Etihad Stadium in their six most recent attempts back in 2015, but dropping Lacazette and deploying Alexis Sanchez in a position he hadn’t played in since the end of April smacked of a manager attempting to find a solution to a problem that did not exist.

Only a fortnight earlier at Everton, Arsenal had given their most convincing performance of the campaign, effectively ending Ronaldo Koeman’s tenure at Goodison Park as Lacazette, Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, belatedly starting together for the first time, took it turns to torment their opponents on the way to 5-2 win.

Lacazette’s demotion and subsequent impressive performance in France’s 2-2 draw with Germany earlier this week in which he scored twice, prompted an understandable line of questioning ahead of this weekend’s north London derby.

‘No, not at all. I have a big choice to make every time, decisions to make up front. He has played many games. He did not play away from home at City, that’s the only one, and overall I trust him,’ said Wenger when asked if he did not trust Lacazette to star the biggest games, forgetting he had also axed his record purchase from the side which started against Liverpool back in September.

Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil could both leave Arsenal in January
Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez have struggled to find their best form this season (Picture: Getty)

Charlie Nicholas | Wenger should drop Sanchez & Ozil

If Arsenal are serious about winning these big games, I would go with Alexandre Lacazette and Danny Welbeck and leave Ozil out and Sanchez out.

‘Are they two of our best players? Of course they are, but they don’t do enough in these big games.

‘Welbeck isn’t as talented but what you’ve got to do against a back three is move them about to create chances, while Lacazette is our best finisher and sulky Sanchez doesn’t like playing out wide.’

Perhaps on that occasion it was understandable that a player so fresh to the Premier League was shielded for the heat of the Anfield cauldron. In any case, Arsenal were so comprehensively outplayed by Liverpool on that particular afternoon that Thierry Henry in his prime could have played in that match without it having any influence on the scoreline.

Saturday’s meeting with Spurs at a tetchy and feisty Emirates Stadium will represent an equally testing environment, but Lacazette needs holding back no longer and protecting him from one of the meanest defences in the league would only heighten the suspicion, however unfounded, that he does not retain Wenger’s total trust.

Comparisons with the two marquee summer arrivals at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge were inevitable and will probably persist all season long. Although he has been outscored by Romelu Lukaku, Lacazette’s all-round game hasn’t been questioned to the extent the Belgian’s has, while Alvaro Morata has only two more goals in the bank, a tally padded out by a hat-trick versus a Stoke side against whom Lacazette had thumping half-volley wrongly chalked off.

Alvaro Morata has scored only two more goals than Alexandre Lacazette but has been hailed as an instant success following his summer move (Picture: Getty)

2017/18 | Premier League top scorers

Sergio Aguero, Man City – 8
Harry Kane, Tottenham – 8
Alvaro Morata, Chelsea 7
Romelu Lukaku, Man Utd – 7
Raheem Sterling, Man City – 7
Mohamed Salah, Liverpool – 7
Gabriel Jesus, Man City – 7
Leroy Sane, Man City – 6
Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal – 6
Jamie Vardy, Leicester – 6

In a purely Arsenal context, with six goals in his first 12 appearances Lacazette has made a more prolific start to his Gunners career than the likes of Henry, Robin van Persie, Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski.

True, both Van Persie and Henry were much younger and not the pure goalscorers they would morph into when they joined, while Giroud and Podolski were under immediate pressure to make up for the void left by the Duthman’s defection to Manchester United. Still, you have to go back to 1999 and Davor Suker to find a striker who can match Lacazette’s goal ratio after his first dozen games for the club.

‘Lacazette I feel is a fantastic signing if you’re going to play him then play him continuously,’ said Ian Wright earlier this week.

‘If I had him in my squad he would start literally every game. He takes half chances, he finishes well with both feet and I think now he is ready to be let loose.

‘The more he plays, the more consistently he plays for the duration of games the more goals he is going to score.

‘He’s that predator in the box Arsenal have been missing for many years.’

That assessment is perhaps a little harsh on Olivier Giroud who scored his 100th goal for the club earlier this season and is more than the lumbering target man he has often been unfairly portrayed as being.

Certainly, however, Lacazette has already displayed enough to suggest he is a significant long-term upgrade and Saturday would represent the ideal time to underline his status as an automatic starter.

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