ARSENAL recovered from a disappointing start to claim a 2-2 draw in the first North London Derby of the season against Tottenham on Sunday.
And were happy to get Henrikh Mkitaryan's wages off their bill after he joined Roma on a season-long loan.
Follow all the latest news and gossip from the Emirates right here…
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GARY LINEKER has called the first France call-up for “enormously talented” Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi “unsurprising”.
Ex-Lorient star Guendouzi, 20, came in for Paul Pogba after the Manchester United superstar was injured in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Southampton.
Guendouzi, capped nine times at Under-21 level, will hope to play some role in the Euro qualifiers with Albania and Andorra.
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ARSENAL boss Unai Emery has been slammed by Paul Merson who branded the Spaniard “Unai Wenger” because nothing at the club has changed.
Despite coming from behind to draw in the north London derby, the former Gunners player believes his old team are missing a trick by not playing Mesut Ozil.
The Emirates stalemate has left Arsenal just outside the Champions League qualifying spots in fifth place after their first four games.
And Merson argued that the result highlighted how little things had changed since Emery had replaced Wenger after 22 years at the helm.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “The north London derby was a great spectacle, a proper game, and Arsenal would have taken a draw when they were two goals down. But has anything changed at Arsenal? I don't think so.
“Arsenal were commended for not collapsing at Liverpool the week before, credit where credit's due, but nothing has changed. It's like Unai Wenger is running things at the moment.
“Every time Tottenham broke they looked like they were going to score, Arsenal were that open. The midfield issues were serious.”
“You've got Granit Xhaka who goes around kicking people and getting booked.
“Yes, Matteo Guendouzi found a great pass for the equaliser, but you cannot rely on him or Lucas Torreira to thread the ball through the eye of a needle on a consistent basis.
“In Xhaka, Guendouzi and Torreira, Arsenal have three players who are not creative.
“They are three holding players, but every time Tottenham broke, they had the freedom of the Emirates.
“I couldn't believe what I was watching. It was reminiscent of when Arsene Wenger was managing.”
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PAUL MERSON says he doesn't know what Granit Xhaka does for the Arsenal team.
Speaking on the Debate, Merson said: “The penalty, I wouldn’t even expect to see that on a Sunday morning, on a Sunday morning.
“Honestly, when it happened I thought ‘has he slipped?’
“I don’t know what he brings to the party, he doesn’t score a goal, he doesn’t have assists, he gets booked, he makes rash challenges, give away a penalty, he doesn’t sit in front of the back four and break things up.
“I get frustrated because he’s got everything, the size, and I don’t know what he’s bringing to the party at the moment.”
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