Mertesacker BENCHED! January signing gets the nod against Everton after German’s Champions League shocker

Arsenal centre-back Per Mertesacker seems to have paid the price for his Champions League shocker against Monaco, with the World Cup winner relegated to the bench for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Everton.

The Gunners were slammed for their performance in Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat at the Emirates, but it was Mertesacker who took a lot of the flack for his part in the French side’s opening two goals.

He deflected a shot into his own net for Monaco’s first before deserting his defensive post completely to allow former Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov to put the visitors 2-0 up in what was a shocking display from the hosts.

And, as a result, January signing Gabriel Paulista got the nod against the Toffees for a first Premier League start.

There were more casualties from the midweek defeat, too, with Danny Welbeck replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - who scored a wonderful consolation goal - in attack, though Mesut Ozil managed to keep his place, despite also receiving a lot of criticism from fans after another abject performance.

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Full team news:

Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs, Coquelin, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud. Subs: Mertesacker, Rosicky, Walcott, Monreal, Chambers, Welbeck, Szczesny.

Everton: Howard, Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Garbutt, McCarthy, Barry, Besic, Mirallas, Lukaku, Barkley. Subs: Robles, Gibson, Kone, Naismith, Osman, Lennon, Alcaraz.